Numerical Simulation of Prenotched Gravity Dam Models
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 126, Issue 6
Abstract
The aim of this work is to investigate the behavior of a 96-m-high gravity dam (the prototype) with a preexisting crack. For this purpose, four different gravity dam models were simulated through the cohesive crack model in mixed-mode conditions. Three of the models (1:40, 1:100, and 1:150 scale) were tested under equivalent dead-weight and hydraulic loads. To obtain correct dead-weight scale ratios, the laboratory tests were performed in an artificial gravity field produced by a system of additional vertical forces and by using a centrifuge. The initial notch in the upstream face served as the starting point of a crack that propagated toward the foundation during the loading process. The structural response and the crack trajectories were reproduced satisfactorily by the cohesive crack model. The behavior of the prototype is discussed on the basis of the behavior of the models.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Barenblatt, G. I. (1959). “The formation of equilibrium cracks during brittle fracture: General ideas and hypotheses.” J. Appl. Mathematics and Mech., 23, 622–636.
2.
Barpi, F. ( 1996). “Numerical models for the study of cracking phenomena in dams.” PhD thesis, Politecnico di Torino, Italy (in Italian).
3.
Barpi, F., Ferrara, G., Imperato, L., and Valente, S. (1999). “Life-time of concrete dam models under constant loads.” Mat. and Struct., Paris, 32, 103–111.
4.
Barpi, F., and Valente, S. ( 1996). “Scale effects in the cohesive process zone and structural response.” Size-scale effects in the failure mechanisms of materials and structures, A. Carpinteri, ed., E & FN Spon, London, 371–382.
5.
Barpi, F., and Valente, S. (1998). “Size-effects induced bifurcation phenomena during multiple cohesive crack propagation.” Int. J. Solids and Struct., 35(16), 1851–1861.
6.
Bažant, Z. P. (1996). “In no-tension design of concrete or rock structures always safe?—Fracture analysis.”J. Struct. Engrg., ASCE, 122(1), 2(1), 2–10.
7.
Bažant, Z. P., and Planas, J. (1998). Fracture and size effect in concrete and quasibrittle materials. CRC, Boca Raton, Fla.
8.
Bilby, B. A., Cottrell, A. H., and Swinden, K. H. (1963). “The spread of plastic yield from a notch.” Proc., Royal Soc., London, A272, 304–314.
9.
Bocca, P., Carpinteri, A., and Valente, S. (1990). “Size effects in the mixed mode crack propagation: Softening and snap-back analysis.” Engrg. Fracture Mech., 35, 159–170.
10.
Bocca, P., Carpinteri, A., and Valente, S. (1991). “Mixed-mode fracture of concrete.” Int. J. Solids and Struct., 27, 1139–1153.
11.
Carpinteri, A. ( 1985). “Interpretation of the Griffith instability as a bifurcation of the global equilibrium.” Application of fracture mechanics to cementitious composites, S. P. Shah, ed., Martinus Nijhoff, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 284–316.
12.
Carpinteri, A. (1989). “Size effects on strength, toughness and ductility.”J. Engrg. Mech., ASCE, 115(7), 1375–1392.
13.
Carpinteri, A., and Valente, S. ( 1988). “Size-scale transition from ductile to brittle failure: A dimensional analysis approach.” Cracking and damage, J. Mazars and Z. P. Bažant, eds., Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 477–490.
14.
Carpinteri, A., Valente, S., Ferrara, G., and Imperato, L. ( 1992). “Experimental and numerical fracture modelling of a gravity dam.” Fracture mechanics of concrete structures, Z. P. Bažant, ed., Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 351–360.
15.
Carpinteri, A., Valente, S., Ferrara, G., and Melchiorri, G. (1993). “Is mode II fracture energy a real material property?” Comp. and Struct., 14(3), 397–413.
16.
Carpinteri, A., Valente, S., Zhou, F. P., Ferrara, G., and Melchiorri, G. ( 1995). “Crack propagation in concrete specimens subjected to sustained loads.” Fracture mechanics of concrete structures, F. H. Wittmann, ed., Aedificatio, Germany, 1315–1328.
17.
Dugdale, D. S. (1960). “Yielding of steel sheets containing slits.” J. Mech. Phys. Solids, 8, 100–114.
18.
Gioia, G., Bažant, Z. P., and Pohl, B. (1992). “Is no-tension dam design always safe?” Dam Engrg., 3(1), 23–34.
19.
Hillerborg, A., Modeer, M., and Petersson, P. E. (1976). “Analysis of crack formation and crack growth in concrete by means of fracture mechanics and finite elements.” Cement and Concrete Res., 6, 773–782.
20.
Li, Y. N., and Liang, R. Y. (1992). “Stability theory of cohesive crack model.”J. Engrg. Mech., ASCE, 118(3), 587–603.
21.
Pellegrini, R., Imperato, L., Torda, M., Ferrara, G., Mazzà, G., and Morabito, P. ( 1994). “Physical and mathematical models for the study of crack activation in concrete dams.” Dam fracture and damage, E. Bourdarot, J. Mazars, and V. Saouma, eds., Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 169–176.
22.
Plizzari, G., Waggoner, F., and Saouma, V. E. (1995). “Centrifuge modeling and analysis of concrete gravity dams.”J. Struct. Engrg., ASCE, 121(10), 1471–1479.
23.
Renzi, R., Ferrara, G., and Mazzà, G. ( 1994). “Cracking in a concrete gravity dam: A centrifugal investigation.” Dam fracture and damage, E. Bourdarot, J. Mazars, and V. Saouma, eds., Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 103–109.
24.
Rice, J. R. (1968). “A path independent integral and the approximate analysis of strain concentration by notches and cracks.” J. Appl. Mech., 15, 379–386.
25.
Valente, S. (1992). “Bifurcation phenomena in cohesive crack propagation.” Comp. and Struct., Paris, 44(1/2), 55–62.
26.
Valente, S. (1993). “Heuristic softening strip model in the prediction of crack trajectories.” Theoretical and Appl. Fracture Mech., 19, 119–125.
27.
Valente, S. ( 1995). “On the cohesive crack model in mixed-mode conditions.” Fracture of brittle disordered materials: Concrete, rock and ceramics, G. Baker and B. Karihaloo, eds., E & FN Spon, London, 66–80.
28.
Valente, S., and Barpi, F. (1994). “On singular points in mixed-mode cohesive crack propagation.” Proc., 3rd Int. Conf. on Localized Damage '94, M. M. Aliabadi, A. Carpinteri, S. Kaliszky, and D. J. Cartwright, eds., Computational Mechanics Inc., Southampton, U.K., 167–174.
29.
Valente, S., Barpi, F., Ferrara, G., and Giuseppetti, G. ( 1994). “Numerical simulation of centrifuge tests on prenotched gravity dam models.” Dam fracture and damage, E. Bourdarot, J. Mazars, and V. Saouma, eds., Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 111–119.
30.
Willis, J. R. (1967). “A comparison of the fracture criteria of Griffith and Barenblatt.” J. Mech. and Phys. Solids, 15, 151–162.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 126 • Issue 6 • June 2000
Pages: 611 - 619
History
Received: Jan 19, 1999
Published online: Jun 1, 2000
Published in print: Jun 2000
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.