Work

Innovative approach for experimental investigation and monitoring and warning of the evolutionary patterns of dam body failure in earth dams

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Dam safety is critical for protecting downstream lives, property, ecosystems, and socio-economic stability. Investigating dam breach mechanisms and establishing safety warning thresholds hold significant scientific and practical value. This study conducted dam breach model tests under diverse conditions and developed a monitoring and warning system using high-precision inclinometers to elucidate deformation characteristics and failure mechanisms. Experimental results revealed three distinct failure stages: tension cracking, localized soil flow/collapse, and catastrophic collapse/landsliding. Precursor phenomena such as seepage and cracking were observed prior to soil flow failure, suggesting that rapid infiltration line reduction during this phase could mitigate large-scale failures. Tilting deformation of the downstream slope was identified as a viable early warning indicator. An improved tangent angle method subdivided the rapid deformation stage into three substages (early, middle, and late) using thresholds of 45°, 80°, and 85°, respectively, to establish tiered warning criteria. Additionally, a reciprocal velocity method was proposed to predict breach timing by characterizing the relationship between the inverse rate of slope angle change and time, demonstrating effective breach time prediction.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-97057-5

Authors: Yunqian Xu, Tengfei Bao, Shu Zhang, Mingdao Yuan

Institutions: Hohai University, Guangdong Research Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower

Language: English

Topic: Dam Engineering and Safety

Subfield: Civil and Structural Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,690