Deposited sediment settlement and consolidation mechanisms

In order to study deposited sediment settlement and consolidation mechanisms, sediment settlement experiments were conducted using a settlement column. Based on the experimental results, sediment settlement stage definition, excessive pore pressure （EPP） dissipation, and consolidation constitutive equations are discussed. Three stages, including the free settlement, hindered settlement, and self-weight consolidation settlement stages, are defined. The results of this study show that sediment settlement is mainly affected by the initial sediment concentration and initial settlement height, and the interface settlement rate is linearly attenuated with time on bilogarithmic scales during the hindered settlement and self-weight consolidation settlement stages. Moreover, the deposited sediment layer in the self-weight consolidation settlement stage experiences large strains, and the settlement amount in this stage is about 32% to 59% of the initial height of deposited sediment. EPP is nonlinearly distributed in the settlement direction, and consolidation settlement is faster than EPP dissipation in the self-weight consolidation settlement stage. Consolidation constitutive equations for the hydraulic conductivity and effective stress, applicable to large-strain consolidation calculation, were also determined and fitted in the power function form.

Settlement modeling in central core rockfill dams by new approaches

One of the most important reasons for the serious damage of embankment dams is their impermissible settlement.Therefore,it can be stated that the prediction of settlement of a dam is of paramount importance.This study aims to apply intelligent methods to predict settlement after constructing central core rockfill dams.Attempts were made in this research to prepare models for predicting settlement of these dams using the information of 35 different central core rockfill dams all over the world and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Interface System(ANFIS) and Gene Expression Programming(GEP) methods.Parameters such as height of dam(H) and compressibility index(Ci) were considered as the input parameters.Finally,a form was designed using visual basic software for predicting dam settlement.With respect to the accuracy of the results obtained from the intelligent methods,they can be recommended for predicting settlement after constructing central core rockfill dams for the future plans.