Thermal monitoring and analysis of the large-scale field earth-dam breach process

Thermal imaging is a nondestructive testing method for monitoring internal material changes that are indicated by changes in an object’s surface temperature. In this study, field observation using thermographs was applied to monitor and analyze the breach process of large-scale earth dams. The earth dam test site was Landao Creek in Nantou County, Taiwan. Four field tests were performed to monitor and analyze a single earth dam and two successive earth dams. Ponding first occurred at the lowland of the riverbed upstream, and base seepage occurred at the base of the dam downstream; overtopping failure soon followed. Earth-dam failure mode is affected by the topographic characteristics of the riverbed; specifically, lowland areas are prone to ponding upstream, which causes piping and seepage downstream as well as subsequent breaches. Ponding and piping cause water seepage and soil wetting, which are reflected in lower surface temperatures recorded on thermographs. Thermographs can monitor changes in surface temperature to evaluate the potential failure modes of dams. Dam surfaces with large temperature variations may be potential failure areas. If confirmed, this fact may prove useful for failure-mode prediction. This paper proposes a monitoring index to reflect the temperature changes in a given period, and this study verified it empirically.