Structural Stability of Concrete Gravity Dams Strengthened by Rockfill Buttressing: Hydrostatic Load
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 12
Abstract
Rockfill buttressing is often considered to strengthen existing gravity dams that have inadequate stability to resist the estimated hydrostatic and seismic loads. Various simplified methods for static stability analyses of composite concrete–rockfill dams, which represent the rockfill as equivalent forces, are discussed. Numerical analyses of composite dams using nonlinear rockfill and interface constitutive models are then considered. Hydrostatic stability analyses of a composite dam are carried out to compare the results obtained from simplified methods and numerical analyses. Parametric analyses are performed to investigate the effects of various modeling parameters such as the friction angle of the concrete–fill interface, the friction angle of the concrete–foundation interface, and the reservoir elevation during the fill placement. Numerical analyses results show that lowering the reservoir prior to construction of the rockfill does not have a significant effect on the stress response of the strengthened dam in the case analyzed. For design purpose, it is shown that the simplified minimum/maximum earth pressure method is always on the safe side irrespective of the concrete–rockfill friction angle.
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Acknowledgments
The writers would like to thank the Hydro-Québec, Alcan, the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Quebec Funds for Research on New Technologies (FQRNT) for financial support. The contribution of Z. Purma who participated in this study is also acknowledged.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 12 • December 2006
Pages: 1592 - 1599
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 13, 2005
Accepted: Jun 8, 2006
Published online: Dec 1, 2006
Published in print: Dec 2006
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