Dam Breach Simulation with the Material Point Method

Dam embankment breaches caused by overtopping or internal erosion can impact both life and property downstream. It is important to accurately predict the amount of erosion, peak discharge, and the resulting downstream flow. This paper presents a new model based on the material point method to simulate soil and water interaction and predict failure rate parameters. The model assumes that the dam consists of a homogeneous embankment constructed with cohesive soil, and water inflow is defined by a hydrograph using other readily available reach routing software. The model uses continuum mixture theory to describe each phase where each species individually obeys the conservation of mass and momentum. A two-grid material point method is used to discretize the governing equations. The Drucker–Prager plastic flow model, combined with a Hencky strain-based hyperelasticity model, is used to compute soil stress. Water is modeled as a weakly compressible fluid. Analysis of the model demonstrates the efficacy of our approach for existing examples of overtopping dam breach, dam failures, and collisions. Simulation results from our model are compared with a physical-based breach model, WinDAM C. The new model can capture water and soil interaction at a finer granularity than WinDAM C. The new model gradually removes the granular material during the breach process. The impact of material properties on the dam breach process is also analyzed.