ISSN 2319-5347, ISI Impact Factor: 0.763

VOLUME 05 NO. 02 APRIL 2016:

Title:          Response of Rajshahi city protection embankment, Bangladesh due to the variation of water-level by FEM
Authors:    Md. Mahmud Sazzad, Faysal Ibna Rahman, Md. Samdani Azad
Abstract:  Stability of waterfront structures such as embankments, dams and natural riverside slopes are often hampered due to the increase in water level in the river or reservoir. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the response of the Rajshahi city protection embankment due to the increase in water level during flood on the stability of slope by using finite element method (FEM). Mohr Coulomb model is used to characterize the soil for FEM. For this study, three locations are selected from Rajshahi city protection embankment, soils are collected from these locations and the soil properties are determined. The numerical models are preparedfollowing the in-situ dimensions of slopes. The geometric models (i.e. the cross-section of the selected locations) are incorporated in the GEO5. The material properties are assigned and the numerical analysis has been carried out by using GEO5. The numerical results are computed by increasing the level of water considering three types of phreatic angle. From the study, it is noted that the variation of water level affects the factor of safety of slopes. The factor of safety decreases with the increase of the water level up to a specific height of slope (referred to as critical pool level) and then the factor of safety increases with the increase of the water level. Factor of safety varies from 4.19 to 1.52 for the selected sections of Rajshahi city protection embankment due to the variation of water level and the factor safety of critical pool level indicates the lowest factor of safety which occurs at 35% to 45% of the highest water level.

Keywords: Embankment, FEM, Factor of safety, Slope stability, Water-level.
Pages:        58-62

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