International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering

ISSN: 1938-6362 (Print) 1939-7879 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/yjge20

Influence of core thickness on stability of

downstream slope of earth and rockfill dams
under end-of-construction and steady-state-
seepage: a comparison

Rajesh Khanna, Manoj Datta & G. V. Ramana

To cite this article: Rajesh Khanna, Manoj Datta & G. V. Ramana (2017): Influence of core
thickness on stability of downstream slope of earth and rockfill dams under end-of-construction
and steady-state-seepage: a comparison, International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, DOI:
10.1080/19386362.2017.1318230

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19386362.2017.1318230

Published online: 19 Apr 2017.

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International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 2017
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19386362.2017.1318230

Influence of core thickness on stability of downstream slope of earth and rockfill

dams under end-of-construction and steady-state-seepage: a comparison
Rajesh Khannaa, Manoj Dattab and G. V. Ramanab
a
Central Soil and Materials Research Station, New Delhi, India; bDepartment of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The steepness of the slopes of earth and rockfill dam is governed by stability considerations which in turn Received 29 January 2017
are influenced by the strength of the core and shell materials as well as their geometry. An analytical study Accepted 28 March 2017
has been undertaken to evaluate and compare the variation in the factor of safety of the downstream
KEYWORDS
slope of a dam on account of variation in the thickness of vertical core for the two conditions, namely, Earth and rockfill dams;
steady-state seepage condition and end-of-construction condition. A 180-m high earth and rockfill dam steady-state seepage; end-
section, founded on strong base, having section and slopes similar to a high dam in the northern India of-construction; vertical core;
was used as a base section for analysis. The study shows that as core thickness increases beyond a critical critical core thickness
value, it causes a progressive decrease in the stability of downstream slope. This critical core thickness is
observed to lie in the range of 50–150% of dam height for both conditions and a core within this zone does
not influence stability of downstream slope. The rate of decrease in factor of safety is also observed to be
similar in both conditions. The influence of relative strength of shell to core, height of dam and pore water
parameter on critical core thickness is highlighted.

Introduction
Earth and rockfill dams can have vertical or inclined cores.
Vertical cores can be thin or thick. In such cases it is necessary
to choose a core thickness which results in steepest side slopes
and minimum earth work. The dimensions of the core and shell
are usually determined by the types of soils and their quantities
available at the dam site. If fine-grained soils (for the core) as well
as coarse-grained soil/rock fill (for the shell) are readily available
in abundance, one can design a large variety of dam sections with
different thicknesses of core. In such cases, the dimensions of
core and its thickness are dependent on considerations of slope
stability as well as other factors such as seepage, proper sealing at
the foundation, resistance to cracking during seismic loading, etc.
To achieve steep outer slopes in the designed section, it is
desirable to keep core thickness below a critical value since core
material has lower shear strength than the outer shall material.
This aspect is the focus of the present study in which the influence
of core thickness on stability of downstream slope is identified for
end-of-construction (EOC) condition as well as and steady-state
seepage (SSS) conditions. A review of literature indicates that this
important aspect has not been a subject of detailed study and the
present work attempts to fill this gap.
The objective of the present work is to identify a zone, within
which the location of vertical core does not influence the stability
of the downstream slope of a dam under EOC and SSS conditions
for an entire range of strength and pore pressure parameters
encountered in the field. This has been achieved by comparing
the manner in which incremental increase in thickness of vertical
core in an earth and rockfill dam influences the factor of safety
of downstream slope of the dam under EOC and SSS conditions.
Background of study
A review of literature of earth and rockfill dams was undertaken to
identify the range of core thicknesses, outer slopes, strength param-
eters and pore pressure parameters in earth and rockfill dams.
The review reveals the following (Sherard et al. 1963; Datta 1979;
Datta and Gulhati 1991; Datta, Kumar, and Tankha 1994; Singh
and Varshney 1995; Singh and Sharma 2004; Kutzner 1997; Gulati
and Datta 2005; CSMRS 2009, 2011a, 2011b, 2012; Khanna, Datta,
and Ramana 2014a; Khanna et al. 2014b, 2015a, 2015b, 2016)
(a) The minimum thickness reported for core is 17% of
height of dam and the maximum thickness reported for
the core is 200% of height of dam.
(b) In earth and rockfill dams, inclination of upstream slope
is usually in the range of 1  V: 2.50 H to 1  V: 1.70 H.
However, in some cases, the upstream slope is as flat as
1 V: 3.00 H or as steep as 1 V: 1.40 H. The inclination of
downstream slope is usually in the range of 1 V: 2.25 H
to 1 V: 1.50 H. However, in some cases, the downstream
slope is as flat as 1 V: 2.50 H or as steep as 1 V: 1.26 H.
(c) In most cases, the value of effective angle of shearing
resistance for shell material lies in the range of 35°–45°
and for the core material the values of effective cohesion
intercept and effective angle of shearing resistance lie
between 0 and 50 kPa and 14°–25°, respectively.

CONTACT  Rajesh Khanna  rajesh12khanna@yahoo.com

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
2   R. KHANNA ET AL.
Figure 1. Simplified dam section with vertical core having variable thickness.
Table 1. Parameters of core and shell used in the study.
Core
Condition c′ (kN/m²) ø′
EOC 50 24°
SSS 0 24°
Note: Underlined values are for base case.
(d) The value of pore water pressure ratio in core material
for EOC condition ranges from 0.35 to 0.71.
(e) The influence of core thickness with the variation of
different parameters on downstream stability of earth
and rockfill dams under EOC and SSS has not been a
subject of detailed studies. Some studies by Singh and
Sharma 2004; Datta 1979; Datta and Gulhati 1991 and
Datta, Kumar, and Tankha 1994, indicate the influence
of core thickness on stability of dam slopes but do not
delineate the safe zone for locating the core. The present
paper attempts to fulfil the gap by identifying the zone
within which the location of a core does not influence
the stability of downstream slope by comparing stability
results for EOC and SSS conditions. It thus enables eco-
nomic design of earth and rockfill dams through proper
location of a core in a dam body resulting in steep down-
stream slope and minimum earthwork.
Methodology
A 180-m high earth and rockfill dam, founded on strong base
having section and slopes similar to a high dam in Northern
India was selected as a base section for the study. A simplified
cross-section with horizontal base and no berms on the upstream
and downstream slopes of the dam, with variable thickness of
core has been adopted for the present study as shown in Figure 1.
The core thickness has been increased, in increments symmet-
rically from as low as 25% of dam height to full width of dam
base till it merges with the upstream and downstream slopes. The
factor of safety of the downstream slope was analysed for each
thickness of the core, to identify the critical thickness beyond
which the factor of safety begins to reduce due to the influence
of the core in both EOC and SSS conditions.
Shell
ru (Variable) c′ (kN/m²) ø′(Variable)
0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 0 30°, 42°, 54°
pwp parameters (ru) from flownet 0 30°, 42°, 54°
The parameters of shell and core used in the study are pre-
sented in Table 1.
The influence of the following parameters was studied:
(a) Thickness of the core: Varied from 25% of dam height
to full base width in increments of 25% for EOC and
steady-state seepage condition.
(b) Relative strength of core to shell: ø′shell  =  30°, 42°, 54°
with ø′core  =  24° (constant) for EOC and steady-state
seepage condition.
(c) Pore water pressure ratio, ‘ru’: 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 for EOC
and pore water pressure from flownet for steady-state
seepage condition.
(d) Height of dam (H): 180 and 45  m for EOC and SSS
condition.
In the present study, the stability analysis has been performed
using Bishop’s Simplified Method. SLIDE 5.0 software has been
used for analysis of slope stability.
Results: stability of downstream slope
The results of stability analysis for the base case with variable
core thickness are shown in Figure 2 and in Figures 6 to 8 for
different variables.
Influence of core thickness
Figure 2 compares the variation in the factor of safety of the
downstream slope of dam on account of variation in the thick-
ness of vertical core for the two conditions – SSS condition
for the base case (with pore water pressure from flow net)
and EOC condition for the base case (with ru = 0.5). Flownets
were obtained by performing seepage analysis in SLIDE 5.0
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING   3

3.00

2.75
EOC (ru = 0.50)

2.50 SSS
2.25
CCT
Factor of Safety

2.00

1.75

1.50

1.25

1.00

0.75

0.50

0.25
0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00
D/S and U/S slopesof verticalcore ( 1V:XH)

Thickness of Core (as % Height of Dam)

Figure 2. Influence of core thickness on factor of safety under EOC and SSS conditions on stability of downstream slope (base case).

(Figure 3). The following observations can be made from the

Figure 2:
(a) The factor of safety for both the conditions is constant
and identical when the downstream and upstream slope
of core varies from nearly vertical to 1.0 V: 0.50 H (i.e.
100% of dam height). This shows that there is no effect of
core on the factor of safety of downstream slope of dam
within this range of core slopes. This is so because the fail-
ure surface passes through the shell material (Figure 4)
and the factor of safety has a value of 1.710 correspond-
ing to tanø′shell/tanβ for infinite slope in cohesionless soil
(β being the slope angle).
(b) Beyond core thickness of 100% of dam height, the factor
of safety begins to drop for both the conditions because
the critical failure surface now passes through the core
(Figure 5).
(c) Thus, the critical core thickness (CCT) for both condi-
tions is 100% of dam height.
(d) Beyond CCT, the overall trend of reduction of factor of
safety is observed to be similar in both cases.

Influence of Relative Strength
Figure 6 depicts the influence of relative strength of shell to core
on the results of stability analysis. Relative strength parameters
were varied by changing the ø′ of shell from 30° to 54° while
keeping c′ and ø′ of core constant. Relative strength is analysed in
terms of Strength Ratio (SR) defined as tanø′shell/tanø′core. Strength
ratio has high value when the shell is much stronger than the core.
Figure 6 shows that when SR is high, the factor of safety is high and
Figure 3. Flow lines and equipotential lines under steady-state seepage through
vertical core having slopes of 1 V: 0.25 H (base case).
it begins to reduce at a lower core thickness (50% of dam height).
Consequently, the CCT is smaller for higher strength ratio and
CCT increases as strength ratio decreases. This becomes evident
in Figure 6 by looking at the vertical arrows which marks the CCT
values for different SR. The values of CCT are also summarised in
4   R. KHANNA ET AL.

Figure 4. Critical failure surface under EOC with vertical core having thickness 100% of dam height (base case).

Figure 5. Critical failure surface under EOC with vertical core having thickness 150% of dam height (base case).

Table 2. Critical core thickness (CCT) for variable parameters. as well as when water content during compaction is higher. From
Figure 7 and Table 2, following observations can be made:
CCT (% of Dam height)
Variable parameters EOC SSS (a) For ru values lying between 0.25 and 0.50, the factors of
Relative strength {Strength Ratio 1.34 150 150 safety for EOC and SSS conditions are similar for differ-
(SR)}* 2.04 100 100 ent core thicknesses and CCT is observed to be 100% of
3.12 50 50
Pore water pressure ratio (ru) for 0.25 100 100 dam height in both cases (Table 2).
EOC 0.50 100 100 (b) For high ru value (0.75), the factor of safety for EOC
0.75 50–100 100 condition is significantly lower than that for SSS condi-
Dam height (H) 180 100 100
50 100 100 tion but the CCT is only marginally different. Such high
*SR = tanø′shell/tanø′core. values of ru are usually not encountered in the field.

Influence of height of dam

Table 2. Another aspect which becomes evident is that for each
SR, the CCT is identical for SSS and EOC condition. It can be
deduced that when the relative strength of shell is much higher
than the core, the critical thickness is of the order of 50% of dam
height but when the difference in relative strength is not very
significant, the critical thickness is 150% of dam height (Table 2).
Influence of pore water pressure ratio, ‘ru’
Figure 7 is an extension of Figure 2 with additional results for EOC
condition using values of ru, 0.25 and 0.75. ru values are higher
when core material has higher plasticity and lower permeability
Figure 8 depicts the influence of height of dam on the stability of
downstream slope for different thicknesses of the core with two
heights of dam – 45 and 180 m. It is seen that factor of safety is
same for different height of dams under EOC condition and SSS
condition when the core thickness is less than 100% height of
dam. Beyond this, the drop in factor of safety is same for both
heights of dam for SSS condition. However, under EOC condi-
tion, the drop is smaller for lower height of dam in comparison
to larger height on account of role of cohesion intercept. From
Table 2, it is observed that CCT is same for both heights of dam
under both conditions.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING   5

3.00

2.75 EOC (ru =0.50)

2.50
SR = 3.12
SSS
2.25
CCT
2.00
Factor of Safety

1.75

1.50 SR = 2.04

1.25

1.00
SR = 1.34
0.75

0.50

0.25
0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00
D/S and U/S slopes of vertical core (1V:XH)

Thickness of Core (as % Height of Dam)

Figure 6. Influence of strength ratio (for variable core thickness) on factor of safety under SSS and EOC conditions.

3.00

EOC (ru = 0.25)

2.75

2.50 EOC (ru = 0.50)

2.25
EOC (ru = 0.75)
2.00
Factor of Safety

1.75
SSS

CCT
1.50

1.25

1.00

0.75

0.50

0.25
0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00
D/S and U/S slopes of vertical core (1V:XH)

Thickness of Core (as % Height of Dam)

Figure 7. Influence of pore pressure parameters ru (for variable core thickness) on factor of safety under EOC condition.

Discussions
The two major observations from the results of the study are (a) the
trend in the reduction in factor of safety of downstream slope under
both conditions – EOC and SSS – is similar and (b) the critical
thickness beyond which the core thickness impacts the stability of
downstream slope is identical under both conditions. The critical
core thickness for an earth and rockfill dam is mostly of the order
of 100% of dam height. However, it is significantly influenced by
relative strength of shell to core. The relative strength depends on
6   R. KHANNA ET AL.

3.00

2.75
ru = 0.50 for 180m high dam
2.50 SSS for 180m high dam
ru = 0.50 for 45m high dam
2.25
SSS for 45m high dam
2.00
CCT
Factor of Safety

1.75

1.50

1.25

1.00

0.75

0.50

0.25
0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00

D/S and U/S slopes of vertical core (1V:XH)

Thickness of Core (as % Height of Dam)

Figure 8. Influence of dam height (for variable core thickness) on factor of safety under EOC and SSS conditions.

shear strength parameters and the pore water pressure ratio ru.
When the strength ratio (tanø′shell/tanø′core) is high or when the
EOC pore water pressure ratio, ru is high, the core behaves like a
‘weak’ material and influences the stability of outer slopes at low
thicknesses. This is brought out in Table 2, which shows that for
a particular dam section (base case), the critical core thickness is
100% and that it reduces to 50% when the strength ratio (tanø′shell/
tanø′core) is high (3.12) and also when ru is high (0.75). For strength
ratio close to unity, CCT can be as high as 150% of dam height.
Conclusions
The present study focussed on the influence of core thickness on
the stability of downstream slope of earth and rockfill dams with
vertical cores under end-of-condition and SSS conditions. The
study leads to the following important conclusions:
(a) As the thickness of core inside an earth and rockfill dam
is increased beyond a critical value, it causes a decrease
in stability of downstream slope.
(b) The critical core thickness for SSS as well as EOC con-
dition ranges from 50 to 150% of dam height for differ-
ent values of relative strength, pore pressure ratio ru and
heights of dam.
(c) For both conditions, the CCT is observed to be identical
for various sets of parameters related to relative strength,
ru and height of dam.
Thus, the present study is useful for demarcating the safe zone
for positioning a vertical core within a large variety of earth and
rockfill dams such that the stability of downstream slope under
EOC and SSS condition is not affected. A designer may note
the following guidelines resulting from the present study which
covers a broad spectrum of shear strength parameters and pore
pressure parameters:
(a) If the thickness of vertical core is kept below 50% of dam
height, it will not affect stability of downstream slope.
(b) Between 50 and 100%, the core is also not likely to
reduce the stability of downstream slope expect when
the core is significantly weaker than the shell material
due to low strength parameters or high ru values.
(c) Core thickness beyond 100% of dam height should be
avoided as this is likely to result in flatter downstream
slope (and more earth work) unless site-specific stability
studies indicate otherwise in cases where strength ratio
is close to unity.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
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