A model for breach growth in sand-dikes

摘要

A mathematical model for breach erosion in sand-dikes has been developed. The model is based on the mechanism of breach erosion as observed in various tests in the laboratory and the field. The model has been calibrated with the data of a field experiment and tested to the data of a laboratory experiment, yielding good agreement. The confrontation of the model with the data of the failure of a prototype dike gives results more or less in agreement with an eye-witness report. Further research on breaching of clay-dikes is ongoing.