Journal of Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers ISSN:1738-3692(Print) 2093-7709(Online) 한국농공학회논문집

This study analyzed pore water pressure, seepage and leakage quantity, height of seepage and critical hydraulic gradient in order to suggest the seepage characteristics of agricultural reservoir embankment considering filter interval. The seepage characteristics of a deteriorated reservoir embankments were conducted according to the horizontal filter intervals range using three- dimensional finite element analysis. The wider the horizontal filter interval, the higher the pore water pressure increased, and the pore water pressure ratio in the center of the core has a greater effect than the base part. The seepage and leakage quantity appeared largely in the two-dimensional analysis conditions (case 1), where the filter was constructed totally in the longitudinal direction of the embankment, the wider the horizontal filter interval was gradually reduced. The reasonable filter intervals to yield efficient seepage characteristics were within 30 m for the pore water pressure of the core and the height of the seepage line. The stability of the filter installation was able to evaluate the stability of the piping by the critical hydraulic gradient method. The deteriorated reservoir with no filters or decreased functionality can significantly reduce the possibility of piping by simply installing a filter on the downstream slope. In the future, the deteriorated reservoir embankment should be checked for the reservoir remodeling because the core and filter functions have been lost or decreased significantly. In the case of a new installation, the seepage characteristic behavior due to the core and filter changes should be applied to the field after obtaining a reasonable horizontal filter interval that satisfies the safety factor by a three-dimensional analysis.