Analysis of flow through dam foundation by FEM and ANN models Case study: Shahid Abbaspour Dam

Three-dimensional simulation of flow through dam foundation is performed using finite element (Seep3D model) and artificial neural network (ANN) models. The governing and discretized equation for seepage is obtained using the Galerkin method in heterogeneous and anisotropic porous media. The ANN is a feedforward four layer network employing the sigmoid function as an activator and the back-propagation algorithm for the network learning, using the water level elevations of the upstream and downstream of the dam, as input variables and the piezometric heads as the target outputs. The obtained results are compared with the piezometric data of Shahid Abbaspour's Dam. Both calculated data show a good agreement with available measurements that demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of purposed methods.