CONFINED FLOW AROUND AN IMPERMEABLE WALL

CONFINED FLOW AROUND AN IMPERMEABLE WALL

This document describes an example that has been used to verify the groundwater ow
capabilities of PLAXIS. The problem involves the conned ow under an impermeable
dam around an impermeable wall.
Used version:
PLAXIS 2D - Version 2011
PLAXIS 3D - Version 2012
Input: Figure 1 shows the geometry and nite element mesh for the problem. The
geometry is assumed to consist of a 10 m wide impermeable dam founded on a soil layer
of 10.0 m thickness. The bottom of the soil layer is impermeable. A 5.0 m long wall is
placed under the dam. At one side of the dam the water level is 5.0 m and at the other
side the water level is 3.0 m. The wall is simulated by means of an impermeable
interface. The element mesh is locally rened around the wall by applying a Fineness
factor of 0.1 to cluster under the dam. Note that the model is extended by 1 m in the
y-direction in PLAXIS 3D. The permeability of soil is 1.0 m/day.
5 m 5 m
5 m
5 m
5 m
3 m
40 m
Figure 1 Problem geometry and boundary conditions
Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the nite element mesh used for the problem in PLAXIS 2D
and PLAXIS 3D respectively.
Figure 2 Finite element mesh (PLAXIS 2D)
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VALIDATION & VERIFICATION
Figure 3 Finite element mesh (PLAXIS 3D)
Output: The steady state solution computed by PLAXIS 2D is presented in Figure 4 and
Figure 5. The solution is obtained in a single iteration since the ow is conned. Figure 4
shows the groundwater head contours in PLAXIS 2D, ranging from 5.0 m at the left hand
side to 3.0 m at the right hand side. Figure 5 shows a detail of the ow eld around the
wall. The total discharge is 0.8180 m
3
/day (per meter in the out of plane direction).
Figure 4 Contour lines of groundwater head (PLAXIS 2D)
Figure 5 Detail of ow eld around the wall (PLAXIS 2D)
Figure 6 shows the groundwater head contours in PLAXIS 3D, ranging from 5.0 m at the
left hand side to 3.0 m at the right hand side. Figure 7 shows a detail of the ow eld
around the wall. The total discharge is 0.8106 m
3
/day (per meter in the out of plane
direction).
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CONFINED FLOW AROUND AN IMPERMEABLE WALL
Figure 6 Contour lines of groundwater head (PLAXIS 3D)
Figure 7 Detail of ow eld around the wall (PLAXIS 3D)
Verication: Harr (1962) has given a closed form solution for the discharge of the
problem of conned ow around a wall for different geometrical ratios.
The solution is presented in Figure 8. In the situation described here (s/T = 0.5;
b/T = 0.5) the solution is:
Q/k/h = 0.4
which gives a total discharge of 0.8 m
3
/day/m. The error in the numerical solution is 2.2%
and 1.3% for PLAXIS 2D and PLAXIS 3D respectively.
PLAXIS 2012 | Validation & Verication 3
VALIDATION & VERIFICATION
Figure 8 (after Harr (1962))
REFERENCES
[1] Harr, M.E. (1962). Groundwater and seepage. McGraw-Hill, NY.
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