The methodology for numerical modeling of soil dam stability in the case of emergency lowering of water level in the reservoir

Soil dams of reclamation systems in the Russian Federation are in difficult to operate conditions due to their physical and moral wear. With regular frequency, emergency situations arise at such facilities under various conditions: emergency discharge of water from the reservoir, floods, fluctuations in the groundwater level, etc. This requires special measures to assess the condition of soil dams. The study presents a methodology for numerical modeling of various conditions at a hydraulic structure with the ability to determine its stress-strain and filtration state, as well as the stability parameters of the structure in case of emergency lowering of water level in the reservoir. Results were obtained on the value of pore pressure and stability coefficient of the soil dam for various phases of the life cycle of the object. In the numerical experiment, the pore pressure in the lower layers of the soil under the dam base was set at 589 kN/m2, with a low water level – 285... 350 kN/m2. It is noted that at a water level of 20 m or more in reservoir, the soil should have a stability coefficient above 1.25... 1.65 in the static state.