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Assessing the susceptibility of gap-graded soils to internal erosion: proposition of a new experimental methodology

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Abstract

Suffusion and global backward erosion are two of the main internal erosion processes in earth structures and their foundations which may increase their failure risk. For other processes of internal erosion, different classifications exist in order to evaluate the soil erodibility, whereas in the case of suffusion and global backward erosion, no susceptibility classification is available. The absence of suffusion susceptibility classification may be due to the complexity of this process, which appears as the result of the coupled processes: detachment–transport–filtration of a part of the finest fraction within the porous network. Twelve soils, covering a large range of erodibility are tested with a specific triaxial erodimeter. Different criteria based on particle size distribution are compared in order to identify the potential susceptibility to suffusion. For the susceptibility characterization, a new energy-based method is proposed. This method can be used for cohesionless soils and clayey sand, and a single classification is obtained for suffusion tests realized under flow rate-controlled conditions or by increasing the applied hydraulic gradient. For several tests performed on a mixture of kaolinite and sand, suffusion of clay is accompanied by a global backward erosion process. Characterization of the development of clayey sand backward erosion is also addressed by this method. Finally, a complete methodology is detailed for the suffusion and global backward erosion susceptibility characterization.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the World Bank (Project TRIG. University of Danang. Vietnam), the French National Research Agency (ANR-ERINOH) and the French Institute for Applied Research and Experimentation in Civil Engineering (IREX) for providing financial support for this work. The support from Indonesian Government is also gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Recherche en Génie Civil et Mécanique, Université de Nantes, 58 Rue Michel Ange, BP 420, 44606, Saint-Nazaire Cedex, France

    Didier Marot, Abdul Rochim & Fateh Bendahmane

  2. Civil Engineering Department, Sultan Agung Islamic University, Semarang, Indonesia

    Abdul Rochim

  3. University of Science and Technology, The University of Danang, 54 Nguyen Luong Bang Street, Lien Chieu District, Da Nang City, Vietnam

    Hong-Hai Nguyen

  4. Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, 3SR, 38000, Grenoble, France

    Luc Sibille

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  1. Didier Marot
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  2. Abdul Rochim
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  3. Hong-Hai Nguyen
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  4. Fateh Bendahmane
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  5. Luc Sibille
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Correspondence to Didier Marot.

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Marot, D., Rochim, A., Nguyen, HH. et al. Assessing the susceptibility of gap-graded soils to internal erosion: proposition of a new experimental methodology. Nat Hazards 83, 365–388 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2319-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2319-8

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