Water Field Distribution Characteristics under Slope Runoff and Seepage Coupled Effect Based on the Finite Element Method
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College of Civil Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, China
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College of Intelligent Construction, Fuzhou University of International Studies and Trade, Fuzhou 350202, China
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Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, China
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College of Civil Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350000, China
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Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Design and Manufacture of Micro-Nano Biomedical Instruments, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
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Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Xingwei Ren, Zili Dai and Fangzhou Liu
Water 2021, 13(24), 3569; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13243569
Received: 3 November 2021
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Revised: 5 December 2021
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Accepted: 10 December 2021
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Published: 13 December 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rainfall-Induced Geological Disasters)
The unsaturated seepage field coupled with heavy rainfall-induced surface flow mainly accounts for the slope instability. If the slope contains macropores, the coupled model and solution process significantly differ from the traditional one (without macropores). Most of the studies on the variation of the water field under the coupled effect of runoff and seepage on the slope did not consider the macropore structure. In this paper, two coupled Richards equations were used to describe the MF (Macropore Flow), and along with the kinematic wave equation, they were applied to establish a coupled model of SR (Slope Runoff) and MF. The numerical solving of the coupled model was realized by the COMSOL PDE finite element method, and an innovative laboratory test was conducted to verify the numerical results. The effects of different factors (i.e., rainfall intensity, rainfall duration, saturated conductivity, and slope roughness coefficient) on water content and ponding depth with and without macropores were compared and analyzed. The results show that infiltration is more likely to happen in MF than UF (Unsaturated Flow, without macropore). The depths of the saturation zone and the wetting front of MF are obviously greater than those of UF. When SR occurs, rainfall duration has the most significant influence on infiltration. When macropores are considered, the ponding depth is smaller at the beginning of rainfall, while the effects are not obvious in the later period. Rain intensity and roughness coefficient have significant influences on the ponding depth. Therefore, macropores should not be ignored in the analysis of the slope seepage field.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Li, S.; Jiang, Z.; Que, Y.; Chen, X.; Ding, H.; Liu, Y.; Dai, Y.; Xue, B. Water Field Distribution Characteristics under Slope Runoff and Seepage Coupled Effect Based on the Finite Element Method. Water 2021, 13, 3569. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13243569
AMA Style
Li S, Jiang Z, Que Y, Chen X, Ding H, Liu Y, Dai Y, Xue B. Water Field Distribution Characteristics under Slope Runoff and Seepage Coupled Effect Based on the Finite Element Method. Water. 2021; 13(24):3569. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13243569
Chicago/Turabian StyleLi, Shanghui, Zhenliang Jiang, Yun Que, Xian Chen, Hui Ding, Yi Liu, Yiqing Dai, and Bin Xue. 2021. "Water Field Distribution Characteristics under Slope Runoff and Seepage Coupled Effect Based on the Finite Element Method" Water 13, no. 24: 3569. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13243569
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