TY - JOUR AU - Okeke, Austin Chukwueloka-Udechukwu AU - Wang, Fawu PY - 2016 DA - 2016/05/18 TI - Critical hydraulic gradients for seepage-induced failure of landslide dams JO - Geoenvironmental Disasters SP - 9 VL - 3 IS - 1 AB - Landslide dams formed by rock avalanche processes usually fail by seepage erosion. This has been related to the complex sedimentological characteristics of rock avalanche dams which are mostly dominated by fragmented and pulverized materials. This paper presents a comprehensive experimental programme which evaluates the critical hydraulic and geometrical conditions for seepage-induced failure of landslide dams. The experiments were conducted in a flume tank specifically designed to monitor time-dependent transient changes in pore-water pressures within the unsaturated dam materials under steady-state seepage. Dam models of different geometries were built with either mixed or homogeneous materials. Two critical hydraulic gradients corresponding to the onset of seepage erosion initiation and collapse of the dam crest were determined for different upstream inflow rates, antecedent moisture contents, compactive efforts, grain size ranges, and dam geometries. SN - 2197-8670 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40677-016-0043-z DO - 10.1186/s40677-016-0043-z ID - Okeke2016 ER -