Study On The Lateral Stability Of Hydraulic Filled Geomembrane Tubes With Supporting Structures

Using geomembrane tube for flood control is an effective method to reduce or prevent the disaster induced by floodwater.To prevent the geomembrane tubes from rolling off or slipping along the ground,the simplest method is to place wedges on their downstream side.However,there are lack of studies to analyze the lateral resistance capacity of the geomembrane tubes and the types of the retaining structures.Three different types of retaining structures are used to increase the lateral stability of the structure.Parametric studies are conducted to identify the influences from the key factors and provide predicting charts for practical usage.Some key conclusions are obtained and summarized as follows:?1?PFC^2D program is coded to calculate the cross-section and the tensile force of the geomembrane tube inflated by the different pumping pressure.The accuracy of the calculation results are verified using model test data and numerical results in literature.?2?Numerical studies are conducted to investigate the performance of the three types of retaining structures,i.e.the triangle,fillet and L-shaped wedge.?3?Non-dimensional parameters are adapted in the numerical analyses to make the results of the parametric studies be suitable for the general cases.?4?The optimum types and dimensions of the wedges are obtained by analyzing the stress concentration on the contact edge with the geomembrane tube and the supporting wedges.