Improving reliability of filters in dams and flood embankments: a particle scale perspective by Professor Catherine O'Sullivan (lmperial College London)

Seminar overview:

Filters are key elements of embankment dams and flood embankments.  Their function is to minimize the risk of internal erosion.  Much of the design guidance on filters is highly empirical and includes hypothetical conjunctures regarding the mechanisms involved.  The International Committee on Large Dams (ICOLD) has recently issued a bulletin on internal erosion (ICOLD, 2015).  This presentation uses particle scale analyses (discrete element method (DEM) modeling and computational fluid dynamics (CFD)) to look in detail at the functionality of filters as specified in the ICOLD bulletin.  Considering filters at this scale provides an improved scientific basis for engineering design.

Biography:

Prof. Catherine O’Sullivan obtained her undergraduate degree at University College Cork, Ireland, and her Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley. She has been a member of staff at Imperial College since 2014. She has contributed to over 80 publications in international journals most of which focus on soil behavior at the particle scale. She delivered the 2015 Géotechnique lecture.

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