EFFECT OF NANOCLAY ON EROSION OF EMBANKMENT DAMS; AN INVESTIGATION THROUGH IMAGE PROCESSING

Overtopping erosion is one of the main causes of catastrophic failure of earth dam. One of the common preventive methods is to grout or add chemicals to the embankment soil. In this study, nanoclay which is devoid of any environmental detrimental effects was utilized. Erodibility of samples contained nanoclay with 0, 1, and 1.5 weight percent of dry soil and curing time of 0, 7, 14, 28 days were investigated using an image processing technique. To make a comparison between traditional and modern additives, a sample containing bentonite clay with 5 weight percent of dried soil was considered. The results showed positive effect of nanoclay on erodibility reduction of the soil. The sample with 1 percent nanoclay with 14 days curing time showed the highest improvement of the soil erodibility characteristic. Increasing the curing time to 14 days reduced the erodibility of all samples, thereafter it had no significant effect. Comparison of traditional and modern additives reveals that the erodibility of the sample containing 5 percent bentonite clay was about 10 times lower than that of the 1 percent nanoclay. © 2022,Journal of GeoEngineering. All Rights Reserved.