Example: Arch dam profile analysis

Q#1: Design a 100 m height constant radius arc dam, by the thin cylinder theory for a valley of
100m wide at the base and 150m wide at a height of 100m. The allowable stress is 4 Mpa. (Use
thin cylinder theory).
Assume a minimum thickness to be 2.5m.

Solution
A. Constant Radius profile (Constant radius arch. Dam)

Let’s first draw the likely valley profile and derive the relationship between length (b) and elevation.

Step 1: Compute the width (L or B) at any elevation (H)

Take central angle: 2θ= 1400 θ=70

Say at x; let’s compute the width (L) wrt to elevation

(Symmetry
𝑋 100−ℎ 1
= From this 𝑋 = (100 − ℎ)
25 100 4

𝒉
L=100+2x Substituting, 𝑳 = 𝟏𝟓𝟎 −
𝟐

Step 2: Compute the external radius (re), it is constant through

the elevation from
𝐿
𝑅𝑒 = = 79.81=80 m
𝐿 2∗𝑆𝑖𝑛𝜃
Sin 𝜃 =
2𝑅𝑒
1
 Step 3: Compute the hydrostatic water pressure at different elevation (p):

𝑃 =𝛾∗ℎ

Step 4: Compute the thickness of the arch at different elevation

𝛾𝑤 ∗ ℎ ∗ 𝑟𝑒
𝑡=
𝜎𝑎𝑙𝑙

Step 5: Now compute the arch angle at different elevation

𝐿
𝜃 = sin−1
2𝑅𝑒

Arch profile table (constant radius arch dam with thin cylinder theory)

h B Re P t-cal t_design ri θ θ
0 150 80 0 0 2.5 80 69.63587 139.2717
10 145 80 100 2 2.5 78 64.99217 129.9843
20 140 80 200 4 4 76 61.04498 122.09
30 135 80 300 6 6 74 57.53826 115.0765
40 130 80 400 8 8 72 54.34091 108.6818
50 125 80 500 10 10 70 51.37517 102.7503
60 120 80 600 12 12 68 48.59038 97.18076
70 115 80 700 14 14 66 45.95137 91.90275
80 110 80 800 16 16 64 43.43254 86.86507
90 105 80 900 18 18 62 41.0145 82.029
100 100 80 1000 20 20 60 38.68219 77.36437

Case 2: Constant Angle Arch Dam

The same procedure applies provided that both the external and internal radius are
variable wrt elevation, and a constant central angle at each elevation

Step 1: Compute the width (L or B) at any elevation (H)

Take central angle: 2θ= 1400 : θ=70
𝐡
𝐋 = 𝟏𝟓𝟎 −
𝟐
Step 2: Compute the hydrostatic water pressure at different elevation (p):

𝑷=𝜸∗𝒉

2
Step 3: Compute the internal radius (ri), wrt to L

𝒍
𝒓𝒊 =
𝟐𝑺𝒊𝒏(𝜽⁄𝟐)

Step 4: Compute the thickness of the arch at different elevation (substitute re=ri+t in
the above equation, and rearranging will give:

𝑃𝑟𝑖
𝑡=
𝜎𝑎𝑙𝑙 − 𝑃

Step 5: Check the calculated thickness wrt the minimum thickness

Step 6: Now compute the external radius (re = ri) at different elevation
Arch profile table (constant angle arch dam with thin cylinder theory

h L or B P fc-P ri t-cal t_des re

0 150 0.0 4000 79.8 0.0 2.5 82.3
10 145 100.0 3900 77.2 2.0 2.5 79.7
20 140 200.0 3800 74.5 3.9 3.9 78.4
30 135 300.0 3700 71.8 5.8 5.8 77.7
40 130 400.0 3600 69.2 7.7 7.7 76.9
50 125 500.0 3500 66.5 9.5 9.5 76.0
60 120 600.0 3400 63.9 11.3 11.3 75.1
70 115 700.0 3300 61.2 13.0 13.0 74.2
80 110 800.0 3200 58.5 14.6 14.6 73.2
90 105.0 900.0 3100 55.9 16.2 16.2 72.1
100 100.0 1000.0 3000 53.2 17.7 17.7 70.9