Abstract
Seepage-induced engineering geology disasters such as sinkholes, foundation pits, and road collapses have resulted in massive economic losses and serious casualties in recent decades, with a major mechanism involved being sand internal erosion. In this research, a novel flexible-wall triaxial test apparatus is developed based on the conventional triaxial device to simulate concentrated leak erosion in sand using artificial quartz sand soil samples. Erosion tests are performed under different hydraulic gradients to study the variations of eroded soil mass and permeability. The results indicate that by increasing the applied hydraulic gradient, the position of the sunken portion (where large quantities of quartz sand particles are missing) elevates in the sample. Furthermore, particle loss rate and permeability coefficient show major variations under different hydraulic gradients. As the hydraulic gradient increases, the erosion rate of quartz sand content increases significantly accompanied by an increase in permeability. However, the start-up time and the duration of soil mass erosion as well as the variation in the permeability coefficient decrease. This study provides valuable insight into the mechanisms coupling the stress state, hydraulic gradient, and concentrated leak erosion phenomenon in sand.
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This research work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (grant numbers 51308235 and 51778249) and Concordia University Seed start up grant (No. VS1233).
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Responsible editor: Zeynal Abiddin Erguler
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Chen, X., Fang, M., Li, B. et al. Experimental study on seepage-induced concentrated leak erosion in sand under triaxial testing conditions. Arab J Geosci 15, 74 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-09271-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-09271-w