Entropy analysis of temperature characteristics for leakage investigation

Abstract

Temperature is widely used as a tracer for dam leakage studies. However, the temperature behaviour of complex rock masses is highly uncertain, especially during the leakage process, owing to its heterogeneous geological components. Although traditional temperature tracers can provide qualitative information for the identification of preferential pathways, it does not consider the uncertainty of the temperature distribution. This limitation may be reduced by entropy theory, which is a measure of the disorder and uncertainty of a system. In this study, entropy theory is employed to probabilistically analyse the temperature characteristics of complex rock masses during leakage. Based on the principle of maximum entropy, an equation for the distribution of temperature in a complex rock mass is derived, which has a logarithmic distribution. Then, it is tested and compared with actual field data, and the results show good agreement. Subsequently, it is further discussed about a hypothesis of temperature entropy for dam leakage investigation as well as a new sampling scheme. This study demonstrates new insights into the introduction of entropy theory to analyse the temperature system for complex rock mass leakage investigation.

Keywords:

• Entropy theory
• principle of maximum entropy (POME)
• uncertainty and probability
• temperature characteristics
• complex rock mass leakage