Chapter 7 Steady-state Flow through Permeable Media________________________

74


CHAPTER 7





STEADY STATE FLOW THROUGH PERMEABLE MEDIA

The problem stands to determine the hydraulic head distribution, the
hydraulic gradients, the seepage velocities and the discharge due to the
water flow through a permeable medium. The seepage phenomenon is due
to the difference between the hydraulic head values, specified on various
boundaries of the domain (in this case, between the upstream and
downstream sides of a retaining structure).

The water head has the general expression

p
z H + = (7.1)

while the hydraulic gradient is the ratio between the hydraulic head
difference in two points along the flow line and the flow lines length

12
1 2
L
H H
gradH i

= = (7.2)
The equations governing the phenomenon are the equation of continuity:

0 =

z
q
y
q
x
q
z
y
x
(7.3)

where q
x
, q
y
and q
z
are the discharge components through area unit
(sometimes called flux), and the generalized Darcy low:




______________________Basics of the Finite Element Method Applied in Civil Engineering

75



Fig. 7.1 Seepage phenomenon problem and the corresponding finite elements
model



D1
D2
H1
H2

p
z
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
D1
D2
z
x
y
C
C
q
r
1
2
6
5
v
r

Chapter 7 Steady-state Flow through Permeable Media________________________

76

|
|
.
|

\
|

=
z
H
k
y
H
k
x
H
k v
xz xy x x

|
|
.
|

\
|

=
z
H
k
y
H
k
x
H
k v
yz y yx y
(7.4)

|
|
.
|

\
|

=
z
H
k
y
H
k
x
H
k v
z zy zx z


where v
x
, v
y
and v
z
are the seepage velocity components and k
i
the hydraulic
conductivity (permeability) components of the medium. In matrix form

| | gradH
q
q
q
z
y
x
k q =
(
(
(

= (7.5)

with k a 3 3 conductivity matrix and the gradient operator

(
(
(
(
(
(

=
z
y
x
grad . (7.6)

The seepage equations yield the general form:

| | | | 0 = gradH grad k (7.7)

to which the boundary conditions are added: prescribed water head
H H = on
H
and prescribed specific discharge (flux) q q
n
= on
q
, where
q
n
is the normal flux through the boundary.

For the specific example, the prescribed boundary conditions are H = H
1
on
D
1
and H = H
2
on D
2
, while the imposed discharge q
n
is due to a forced
drainage on boundary C.

______________________Basics of the Finite Element Method Applied in Civil Engineering

77

In the differential approach, the unknown function is the hydraulic head
H(x, y, z), the general form corresponds to the system A(u) = 0 and the
boundary conditions represent the B(u) = 0 equations.

In the variational approach, the associated functional is:

| |


= Hd q dV gradH E
T
V
q
2
1
(7.8)

in which the first term is the hydraulic energy dissipated in the seepage
process.

For a certain element, the hydraulic head H(x, y, z) is expressed by the
approximate (shape) functions according to the nodal values H
i
:

8 8 2 2 1 1
) , , ( ... ) , , ( ) , , ( ) , , ( H z y x N H z y x N H z y x N z y x H + + + = (7.9)

or, in vector form

e
z y x H NH = ) , , ( (7.10)

Note that in this type of problem the hydraulic head (the unknown) is a
scalar, with no components along the Cartesian coordinate system
directions, while N is a vector of shape functions. Hence, the dedicated
finite element has only one degree of freedom (DOF) per node.

The hydraulic gradient associated to the element can also be expressed by
the nodal hydraulic heads:

| | | |
e q
grad gradH H B NH = = (7.11)

where B
q
is the vector with the first derivatives of the shape functions.

From the Darcy low, the specific discharge as a function of nodal water
heads, yields:

e q
H kB q = (7.12)

Chapter 7 Steady-state Flow through Permeable Media________________________

78
The elemental functional yields



|
.
|

\
|
=
e e
d q dV E
T T
e
V
q
T
q
T
e e
N H - H kB B H
2
1
(7.13)

In this form the functional depends only on the nodal values of the hydraulic
head. The first integral identifies as the seepage matrix of an element while
the second one is the boundary conditions vector:

=
e
V
q
T
q s
dV kB B k ;

=
e
d q
T
N r (7.14)
where q is the prescribed discharge through the elements faces.

The functional expression yields:

r H H k H
T
e e s
T
e e
E =
2
1
(7.15)

For the entire seepage domain, the functional is the sum of elemental
contributions:

R H H K H r H H k H
T
s
T
m
T
m
s
T
m
e
e
E E = |
.
|

\
|
= =

=
2
1
2
1
1 1 1

(7.16)

In this way, the continuous domain was replaced by a discrete model with
the functional expressed according to the nodal values of the hydraulic head.

The stationary condition 0 /
, 1
=
= n i
i
H E leads to a linear algebraic system:

R H K =
s
(7.17)

The boundary conditions, as prescribed hydraulic head, are applied using the
same algorithm as for the prescribed displacements. If in a node j lying on
the boundary the hydraulic head has a prescribed value H , in the algebraic
system the following equality is added to equation j:

______________________Basics of the Finite Element Method Applied in Civil Engineering

79

H k H k
j
= (7.18)

where k is an arbitrary number. If k is chosen with some orders of
magnitude above the diagonal coefficients of the system, the solution of
equation j becomes H H
j
= .

By solving the equation system with the prescribed boundary conditions, the
nodal hydraulic head vector is determined. Consequently, the hydraulic
spectrum (the equipotential lines) can be drawn.

The hydraulic gradients and the discharge can be assessed by returning to
the element level. The discharge through an element face is

=
e
S
n e
dS q Q (7.19)

where q
n
is the water particle velocity normal to the element face S
e
,

| | q n =
(
(
(

=
z
y
x
z y x n
q
q
q
n n n q (7.20)
with n the director cosine vector of the normal to the element face in the
global coordinate system

e q n
q H B k n = (7.21)

e q e
S
q e
e
dS Q H C H B k n = |
.
|

\
|
=

(7.22)

The total discharge through a certain cross section (or boundary) yields by
adding the contributions of all element faces lying on that surface.