A seepage-deformation coupled analysis method for unsaturated river embankments

In the present paper, a water-soil coupled elasto-plastic finite element analysis method is proposed for unsaturated river embankments by incorporating unsaturated soil-water characteristics. The simplified three-phase method is developed based on the multi-phase porous theory by assuming that the compressibility of pore air is very high. Using the proposed method, the behavior of a river embankment, consisting of sandy soil in different conditions, is numerically analyzed while the river water level is high. From the numerical results, the seepage-deformation characteristics of the river embankment and the effects of permeability and the initial saturation are clarified.