Anwendungen einer Näherungslösung für die Grundwasserströmung bei Restwasserhaltung

Application of an approximate solution for groundwater flow at a residual water drainage system

If excavations go below the groundwater table, a proven option is to embed the pit wall in a less permeable soil stratum and to operate a residual water drainage system. As an underflow of the pit walls occurs in these constructions the flow field has to be determined for various calculations and stability verifications. For instance, hydraulic gradients, discharge velocities as well as potential heads and pore-water pressures have to be calculated. These values are necessary to determine the earth and water pressure distribution. They can also be used for the verification of hydraulic failure, internal erosion and failure of the earth support, as well as for the calculation of groundwater influx.
By defining the hydraulic problem as a parameterized boundary value problem and using the Finite Element Method (FEM) an analytical approximate solution was formulated. This solution is valid for both plane and axisymmetric state with isotropic and anisotropic subsoil. It is used for the calculation of the hydraulic head distribution on the level of the wall toe and along the inner surface of the wall. These approximate solutions are evaluated for the verification against hydraulic heave and for the calculation of the maximum gradient at the change of layer in area of the excavation pit and the determination of the required embedment depth.