Abstract:The seepage safety factor calculated by the conventional two-dimensional steady flow net is close to the critical value, which will lead to the redundant protection of the structure by over-design method in the design. Therefore, a method based on the finite difference method (FDM) model is proposed for the double-modified flow net. The cross section is discretized, and the new equipotential lines and streamlines are obtained by using the advantages of small step unit and many iterations of FDM. The seepage rate and safety factor are recalculated by the modified head gradient and seepage path. The results show that the modified seepage based on the FDM model is 2.77 m3/d/m, which is basically consistent with the calculated value 3.29 m3/d/m of the two-dimensional steady flow net. However, the seepage safety factor of the modified FDM model is 2.7, which is much higher than the calculated value 1.6 of the two-dimensional steady flow net. It is explained that the calculation result of the flow net modified by FDM has the higher precision and the structure safety is more reliable.