Experimental analysis of the effect of adding montmorillonite nanomaterials on increasing the strength of inclined surfaces in earth Dams and the time of destruction

Soil structures, despite their advantages over concrete structures, are considered as high risk structures. These structures face irreparable cultural, social and economic losses against conditions such as floods. The most common cause of earthen dam damage is the overflow phenomenon, which accounts for 59% of failures (Schmocker and Hager, 2010). One of the ways to increase soil resistance is to add mixed materials with high shear strength to the soil. In this research, nano materials were mixed at five levels with the soil used in the earth dam, and an increase of about 70% of the shear strength of the soil was observed as a result of adding 5% nanoparticles to the soil. Furthermore, other soil properties from the perspective of geotechnical science and soil behavior, when mixed with nanomaterials, were investigated. Hui and Yan(2013) In their research investigated the role of particle size in the destruction of earth structures. By examining non-cohesive soils with average particle diameters of 0.33, 0.4 and 0.62, they concluded that particle size, flow rate and water height behind the embankment have a direct effect on the demolition process  of earth dams.