ABSTRACT
Embankments associated with mine tailings storage facilities, levees, and earth dams have fine granular soils susceptible to liquefaction when their state is on the wet side of the critical state line. During periods of heavy rain or drainage system issues, a partially saturated material can become saturated after infiltration during rainfall. For low degrees of compaction, the response can be contractive, particularly at medium to high confining pressures. Therefore, centrifuge model tests were performed at Deltares, Netherlands, to assess the stability of a slope made of a silty fine sand subjected to seepage flow. An upstream water level was installed inside the slope, allowing a steady-state seepage flow through the model, while water was recovered on the downstream border where the water level was kept at a much lower level. This paper presents the centrifuge test results in terms of pore pressure evolution, which was then compared with numerical analysis performed in PLAXIS 2D®.
