CHAPTER 4

PRINCIPLES, DESIGNS, ANALYSIS AND

CONSTRUCTIONS OF CONCRETE
DAMS

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 Concepts of classification
 Material used
 Loads
 Load cases

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•Concrete Dams

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Loads-graphical

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Loads-graphical

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Loads-graphical

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Loads-graphical

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Loads-graphical

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Loads-graphical

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 Stabilizing and heightening of Existing dam
 Several methods are available for improving the rotational and sliding
stability of concrete gravity dams.
 In general, the methods can be categorized as those that reduce
loadings, in particular uplift, or those that add stabilizing forces to the
structure and increase overturning or shear-frictional resistance.
 Stressed foundation anchor systems are considered one of the most
economical methods of increasing rotational and sliding resistance
along the base of the dam.
 Foundation grouting and drainage may also be effective in reducing
uplift, reducing foundation settlements and displacements, thereby
increasing bearing capacity.
 Re-grouting the foundation could adversely affect existing foundation
drainage systems unless measures are taken to prevent plugging the
drains; otherwise, drain re-drilling will be required.
 Various methods of transferring load to more competent adjacent
structures or foundation material through shear keys, buttresses,
underpinning, etc., are also possible ways of improving stability.

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1. vertical prestressing of the dam or
2. construction of a downstream supporting
shoulder or berm.

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 Rigid body motion and Analytical two
dimensional gravity methods of analysis

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 Analytical two dimensional gravity
method analysis
The steps are:-
1) consider unit length of the dam;
2) work out the magnitude and directions of all the vertical and horizontal
forces acting on the dam and their algebraic sum;
3) determine the moment arm of all these forces about the toe;
4) determine the moments of all these about the toe and find out the
algebraic sum of all those moments;
5) find out the location of the resultant force by determining its distance
from the toe;
6) find out the eccentricity of the resultant, which must be less than B/6 in
order to ensure that no tension is developed anywhere in the dam;
7) determine the vertical stresses at the toe and heel;
8) determine the maximum normal stresses at the toe and heel; and
9) determine the factor of safety against overturning, sliding and crushing.
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 Assumptions
1) the dam is considered to be composed of a number of
cantilevers, each of which is 1 m thick and acts
independent of the other;
2) no loads are transferred to the abutments by beam
action;
3) the foundation and the dam behave as a single unit;
4) the materials in the dam body and foundation are
isotropic and homogeneous; and
5) the stresses developed in the dam and foundation are
within elastic limits and no movement of the foundation
is caused due to transference of loads.

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 Home Work
 Check the stability of the gravity dam section shown in Figure at the
section AA' assuming the location of dam in seismic Zone, Wind velocity
115 km/hr and Fetch length 25 km.

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Computer Aided stability analysis of
gravity DAM—CADAM
 CADAM is a computer program that was
primarily designed to provide support for
learning the principles of structural
stability evaluation of concrete gravity
dams.
 CADAM is also used to support research
and development on structural behaviour
and safety of concrete dams.

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CADAM
 CADAM is based on the gravity
method(rigid body equilibrium and beam
theory).
 It performs stability analyses for hydrostatic
loads and seismic loads.
 Several modelling options have been
included to allow users to explore the
structural behaviour of gravity dams (e.g.
geometry, uplift pressures and drainage,
crack initiation and propagation criteria).

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 CADAM
 Within the context of training engineering students,
CADAM allows:
◦ To corroborate hand calculations with computer
calculations to develop the understanding of the
computational procedures.
◦ To conduct parametric analysis on the effects of
geometry, strength of material and load magnitude on
the structural response.
◦ To compare uplift pressures, crack propagation, and
shear strength (peak, residual) assumptions from
different dam safety guidelines (CDSA 1995, USACE
1995, FERC 1991, FERC 1999 and USBR 1987).
◦ To study different strengthening scenarios (post-
tensioning, earth backing, buttressing).

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Introduction to Finite Element
Method

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 What is a Finite Element?
 can be visualized as a small
portion of a continuum.
 The word “Finite”
distinguishes such a portion
from the “infinitesimal”
elements of differential
calculus.

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 What is Finite Element?
 The geometry of the
continuum is considered to be
formed by the assembly of
◦ a collection of non-overlapping
domains with simple geometry
termed finite elements.
◦ Triangles and quadrilaterals in
two dimensions or
◦ tetrahedral and hexahedra in
3D are typically chosen to
represent the “elements”.
 a “mesh” of finite elements
“discretizes” the continuum.

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 What is Finite Element?
 The space variation of
the problem parameters
(displacement in a
structure) is expressed
within each element by
means of a polynomial
expansion.

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What is Finite Element?

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 Finite Element Method (FEM)
 is a numerical method for determining
responses (deformation, strain, and stress)
of a body under external loads.
 uses a concept of “piecewise
approximation”.
 In theory, the elements can be of different
shapes and sizes.

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 Finite Element Method (FEM)
 Until developing FEM it was almost difficult to
calculate point to point responses
(approximately) of a body of any geometric shape
and any complex type of loading conditions.
 the entire dam body is divided by using
equivalent system of small triangular element for
obtaining responses within and boundary (node)
of the element.
 determines first the global deformations at the
nodes of the element then determines
successively other responses such as strains,
stresses, etc.
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Finite Element Method (FEM)
 Nowadays, this method is
available as a commercial
FE programming or
software (ABAQUS, ANSYS,
STADD.pro, SAP, etc.) for
solving large problems.
 Most of the FE
programming used for
either general purpose or
special purpose follows the
same basic procedure of
finite element method.

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Finite Element Terminologies
 Degree of Freedom(DoF)
 Nodal displacement Vector
 Stiffness Matrix K
 Force Vector

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FEM PROCEDURE

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Further reading
 For further knowledge please refer the
following articles
1. Finite Element Analysis of Dam-Reservoir Interaction
Using High-Order Doubly Asymptotic Open Boundary
by Yichao Gao et al.
2. Stress Analysis of a Concrete Gravity Dam with
Intersecting Galleries by Sharique Khan and et al
3. Comparison of Design and Analysis of Concrete
Gravity Dam by Md. Hazrat Ali and et al
4. The Finite Element Methods fifth Edition volume 1 by

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