DISCRETIZATION OF SEEPAGE THEOREM IN EMBANKMENT DAMS BY FINITE VOLUME TECHNIQUE

In this paper, a finite volume scheme has been used to discretize seepage theorem in embankment dams. This method combines the advantages of numerical discretization and finite volume method. The equations are discretized using a finite volume approach. The governing equations of saturatedunsaturated flow are introduced and the finite volume method is applied to discretize them in space. The techniques of determining the seepage faces and computing the discharge rate through a specified section are proposed. Consequently, a mathematical model for multi-component flow transport in an anisotropic media is presented which couples the equations for multi-component diffusion and Darcy’s law for flow in a porous medium. Flow flux was obtained from upwind approximation or central differencing or hybrid approximations. Furthermore application of an integrated matlab system in several studies has been provided. The integrated matlab is based on open data formats and standards and may be used for many other application areas, especially where modeling in 2D and 3D is involved. Numerical comparison of the extend of the measured seepage from the Sonbolroud dam, using a numerical method in which discretization technique by finite volume using modified unstructured grids has been employed, demonstrates that the presented numerical method has a satisfactory accuracy. The extent of error compared to the measured results in case of using this method is about %3.