Self-Healing of Concentrated Leaks at Core-Filter Interfaces in Earth Dams

Concentrated leaks at core-filter interfaces in earth dams increase erodibility of soils, which may lead to catastrophic failures. In this paper, mathematical and experimental testing methods are suggested to determine the self-healing nature of these leaks. The methods are fundamentally different from the existing empirical methods in that they do not involve comparison of particle sizes of the base (D₈₅) and filter (D₁₅) soils. They are based on the fundamental processes of particle transport and deposition phenomena. An advection-type equation is used with a deposition coefficient (λ) to describe particle transport in filters.