Introduction

Most Soil Mechanics text books present and discuss the concept of seepage exit gradients and state that the exit gradients should not be greater than 1.0. Applying this criteria to two-dimensional finite element seepage analyses requires an understanding as to the conditions for which the criteria was developed and the physical meaning of an exit gradient greater than unity (1.0).

This document discusses the background as to how the exit gradient criterion was developed and how this criterion should be viewed when interpreting 2D finite element seepage analyses.