Comparison between the Isotope Tracking Method and Resistivity Tomography of Earth Rock-Fill Dam Seepage Detection

Mingjie Zhao, Hui Wang, Xiao Sun, Yao Zhang

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DOI: 10.4236/eng.2011.34045                

Abstract

This paper compares the different inversion results of three different earth rock-fill dam models with the actual leakage passages by performing isotope tracing tests and resistivity tomographic tests. The accuracy of the experimental results is evaluated, and the characteristics of these two methods are analyzed. As a result, some significant references are offered for earth rock-fill dam’s hidden defects detection. The experimental results show that the leakage and the direction of the seepage can be judged by isotope tracing tests, meanwhile, the degree of the leakage can be confirmed through the determination of the horizontal seepage velocity and the vertical seepage velocity, but it is difficult to properly determine the position of leakage passages and the range of leakage. Relatively speaking, the positions of the leakage passages can be accurately and directly displayed through resistivity tomographic tests. The experiment results show that the resistivity tomographic method is much better than isotope tracing method with regard to earth rock-fill dam’s hidden defects detection, and the resistivity tomographic method expresses much more convenience and much higher precision than isotope tracing method.

Keywords

Earth Rock-Fill Dam, Leakage Diagnosis, Isotopes Tracing, Resistivity Tomography

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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