Feasibility of Using Hypothetical Fractal Structures to Determine Water Outflow Zones After a Pipe Failure

Abstract

Failures of water supply pipes are undesirable events with a random nature, yet they are an inevitable part of the operation of water infrastructure. Therefore, ongoing research is being conducted to develop methods for minimising their effects or securing underground infrastructure. One of the methods of limiting the effects of the suffosion phenomenon is determination of the water outflow zone, within which water will possibly flow to the soil surface after a pipe leak. The aim of this paper was to assess hypothetical structures created by outflowing water in terms of their potential use in determining the water outflow zone on the soil surface after a water pipe failure. Based on the laboratory test results, the Monte Carlo method was applied to generate the hypothetical population of points representing the places of water outflow. Three parameters characterising hypothetical structures were analysed: fractal dimension, length of a section, and the product of above parameters. The conducted research showed that it is possible to build a reliable hypothetical structure that allows for estimating the water outflow zone radius, knowledge of which would facilitate sustainable management of the water supply network by water utilities by enabling the estimation of the water outflow zone radius in practice.