Prediction of leakage from embankment dam foundation with cutoff wall using soft computing method

Embankment dam is always the most suitable and most available (considering the type of materials) of the structure in the water-related structures and is also suitable for feeding the groundwater table. In contrast to the advantages of embankment dams, the main problem in the use of these types of dams is the water seepage in the dam body. One of the ways to control the seepage at the foundation of the embankment dams is the use of a cut-off-wall. In the current study, the calculation of seepage current through finite element method using GeoStudio software was performed without the use of common computational methods such as grid flow or design using dam width and water heights behind the dam. A sample of embankment dam with a specific surface of the reservoir has been studied. Different parameters of the dam such as the permeability coefficient of different components and the height of the cut-off-wall and the location of the cut-off-wall are compared to the core of the dam as a variable, and an outline for the seepage rate from the dam various states are obtained. Also, using Genexprotolls.5 software based on the obtained data and regression analysis, a genetic programming interface has been developed to calculate the seepage rate from the dam foundation according to the variables introduced. The level of leakage from the dam is reduced by displacing the cut-of-wall toward downstream as well as increasing the coefficient of permeability of the dam shell. The results show that the variations of coefficient of permeability of the core dam have a small effect on the leakage rate of the dam foundation. On the other hand, increasing the permeability coefficient of the dam foundation increases significantly the leakage from the dam foundation.