Seepage in Mississippi River Banks. Report 1. Analysis of Transient Seepage Using a Viscous-Flow Model and the Finite Difference and Finite Element Methods

摘要

The stability of the banks of the Mississippi River is dependent in part upon seepage conditions induced by variations in the river level. Specifically, the drawdown conditions become significant for the design of stable riverbank slopes and protective structures. A parallel-plate, viscous-flow model was designed and constructed for the purpose of conducting tests that simulate seepage conditions and variations of external water levels in the field. This report presents a description of the viscous-flow model and the theory governing fluid flow through the model. Various experiments were performed using the model, and a special finite difference scheme was developed for solving approximate equations governing one- and two- dimensional fluid flow. Applications of the proposed techniques for obtaining head distribution and flow nets in the domain of fluid seepage are presented in the report.