Final Project SHFWS

Structures for Hydraulic Facilities and
Water Storage
FINAL REPORT
Coordinator Student
Prof. Dr. Anghel Constantinescu MIHAI Andrei-Alexandru
Structures for Hydraulic Facilities and
Water Storage
FINAL REPORT
Coordinator Student
Prof. Dr. Tudor BUGNARIU MIHAI Andrei-Alexandru
Mihai Andrei-Alexandru Structures for hydraulic facilities and water storage Final Report
1. Contents
1 Description............................................................................................................................... 2
2 Input information ..................................................................................................................... 2
3 Structural model and assessment of loads ............................................................................... 4
4 Seepage model ......................................................................................................................... 7
5 Final model ............................................................................................................................ 12
6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 14
1
1 Description
The objective of this project is to analyse the effects of hydrostatic pressure and the uplift
pressure on the structural behaviour of a concrete gravity dam. The project is split in 2 parts, one
in which the displacements are calculated based on the interaction between the dam and the
ground and a second one, in which a seepage model will provide some data regarding uplift
pressures, based on temperatures. All the finite element calculations are performed in ANSYS
software.
2 Input information
The input data is presented below.
Student number: N=4
STUDENT NUMBER N=4

Distance Elevation
[m] [m]
L1 40.6 Elev. point A 0
L2 8 Elev. point B 0
L3 8 Elev. point C 5
L4 6 Elev. point D 5
Elev. point E 20
Elev. point F 48
Elev. point G 58
TAB. 1: INPUT DATA
2
FIG. 1: GRAPHICAL DISPLAY ALONG WITH SECTION GEOMETRY (CADAM)
Concrete properties:
Modulus of elasticity: E=210000 N/mm2
Density: ρ= 2400 kg/m3
Poisson ratio: μ= 0.18
Ground properties:
Modulus of elasticity: E= 10000 N/mm2
Density: ρ= 2400 kg/m3
Poisson ratio: μ= 0.20
Permeability of the ground: k1= 3.5*10-4 m/s
Permeability of the grout screen: k2= 10-10 m/s
The permeability of the grout screen is very low, considering the fact that it has to reduce
the uplift pressure.
3
3 Structural model and assessment of loads

In this chapter the structural model used to obtain displacements in two different cases is
presented.
Before presenting the structural model, some information about the mesh discretisation has
to be provided.
The finite element type used in this first part is called PLANE42. It is an elastic 2D element,
which is fit for plane strain and plane stress problems. Since the state of this model is plane
strain, the aforementioned element will work just fine. In order to be able to obtain the uplift
pressure in the seepage model, another type of element is going to be used, namely the
PLANE55 element. This type of element has thermal conduction capability and each of the 4
nodes has 1 degree of freedom, which is temperature.
The discretization consists mainly of quadrilateral four-noded finite elements (QU4) for the
ground and the dam. For the mesh of the dam some of the elements are triangles. Even though
the triangles do not work very well in bending, in this case they will suffice.
The results obtained in this project are for only one type of discretization. Increasing the
number of finite elements in the areas of high interest (concentration of stresses or significant
displacements) and also trying to get square shapes as much as possible will yield more accurate
results. Avoiding 45 degrees angles for the finite element shapes is also a thing to be considered.
Also, refining the mesh would result in an increased computation time. Since the purpose of this
project is not to analyse the effect of mesh refining on the stresses and displacements, a single
mesh will be used in the entire project, meaning that a mesh will be generated by discretising the
lines in the beginning and it will be kept for all the analysed cases.
In this part of the project the displacements will be obtained for 2 cases:
a. Displacement due to own-weight of the structure
b. Displacement due to hydrostatic pressure upstream/downstream
In the first case, the structural model is presented in Fig. 2. Besides the material properties
and the dimensions presented above, two other steps need to be performed. The boundary
conditions have to applied to the ground (displacement restraints on x and y direction) and the
gravitational acceleration has to be assigned on y direction. For this case the displacement plot
obtained is presented in Fig. 3. The maximum displacement value is: -0.0053m.
4
FIG. 1: STRUCTURAL MODEL IN 1ST CASE
FIG. 3: DEFORMED SHAPE – 1ST CASE (OWN WIGHT)
5
Moving on, in the second case, the displacements due hydrostatic pressure have to obtained.
The same boundary conditions are used and since the working domain is the linear elastic one,
the superposition principle can be applied. This means that the displacements can be calculated
separately for different cases and then summed up. Gravitation acceleration is removed and the
forces representing the hydrostatic pressure are assigned on the dam structure in the upstream.
The presssure is applied only to the dam structure. The case when the pressure is applied
both on the structure and also on the soil is not used here, because the deformation of the ground
might be so high that could make the dam structure move upstream. The structural model is
expressed in Fig. 4. The displacements are presented in Fig. 5 and the maximum displacement
value is: -0.0059m.
FIG. 4: STRUCTURAL MODEL IN ANSYS IN 2ND CASE
6
FIG. 5: DEFORMED SHAPE – 2ND CASE (HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE-UPSTREAM)
4 Seepage model
In this chapter the structural model for the seepage case is presented.
The input information presented in the first chapter is going to be the basis for this part of
the project, meaning that most of the information regarding the dimensions, material and element
type is kept.
In order to be able to obtain the uplift pressures, another type of element is going to be used,
namely the PLANE55 element. This type of element has thermal conduction capability and each
of the 4 nodes has 1 degree of freedom, which is temperature. Another addition in this part is the
introduction of another material, which is used to define the thermal conductivity (KXX). This
type of material is assigned to both the impervious screen and the soil, each with different values,
presented in the input chapter.
7
Before running the calculation, the boundary conditions have to be assigned. In this case, the
the boundaries of the soil and the bottom of the dam have to be impervious, meaning that the
velocity is set to be 0. The structural model is presented in Fig. 6.
FIG. 6: STRUCTURAL MODEL REGARDING THE SEEPAGE
8
In Fig. 7 the equipotential lines are presented. The equipotential lines pass through points of
equal pressure.
FIG. 7: EQUIPOTENTIAL LINES
The uplift pressure is calculated based on the temperature variation in every node under the
dam. The hydraulic head is equivalent to the temperature. Using formula Eq. 1, p is taken out
and calculated for every node. The final uplift pressures have to be with a negative sign.
Furthermore, the uplift forces are calculated by taking into account the tributary width, meaning
half the distance on either side of the node, as explained in Fig. 8.
p
H = z+ Eq. 1 – Hydraulic head formula

9
FIG. 8: GRAPH EXPLAINING THE TRIBUTARY WIDTH FOR CALCULATION OF UPLIFT FORCES
Regarding the Fig. 9 with the graph representing the variation of uplift pressure under the
dam, it is clear that the impervious screen has a quite good effect. The pressures are going from
downwards to upwards as going from the most left node to the right side. Bad results would have
yielded a straight line on the graph, but it is not the case here.
Uplift pressures variation under the dam

0
0 2.67 5.33 8 13.43 18.87 24.3 29.73 35.17 40.6
-10
Uplift pressure [kPa]
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
Coordinate of node relative to the most left node [m]
FIG. 9: UPLIFT PRESSURES GRAPH FOR THE NODES UNDER THE DAM
10
Furthermore, after obtainig the uplift forces for every node under the dam, as seen in Fig.
10 the values are plugged in ANSYS. The model is presented in Fig. 11.
Variation of uplift forces under the dam

0
-10 162.4 165.07 167.73 170.4 175.83 181.27 186.7 192.13 197.57 203
-20
-30
Uplift forces
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80
-90
-100
X coordinate for nodes under the dam [m]
FIG. 10: VARIATION OF UPLIFT FORCES UNDER THE DAM
The value for the abovementioned uplift forces is presented in Table 1.
x coord. P F
Node no.
[m] [kPa] [kN]
645 162.4 -48 -64.08
833 165.07 -34.75 -92.6087
832 167.73 -21.65 -57.6973
188 170.4 -8.6 -34.83
469 175.83 -8.54 -46.4149
468 181.27 -8.36 -45.4366
467 186.7 -8.03 -43.6029
466 192.13 -7.51 -40.8169
465 197.57 -6.66 -36.1971
385 203 -5 -13.575
Table 2: Uplift force for nodes under the dam
11
5 Final model
In this part all the loads are applied on the structure and the displacements are obtained.
After getting the uplift forces, the final model can be constructed, meaning that all the forces
can be applied on the structure. This can be done due to the fact that the working domain is the
linear-elastic one, which means that the superposition principle is available. The final structural
model is presented in Fig. 11.
FIG. 11: FINAL STRUCTURAL MODEL
In terms of results, the plots for the deformed shape, stresses and strains should have been
presented, but since in this case the academic version of ANSYS was used, which does not allow
displaying the stresses and strains, only the plots for displacements are presented. The deformed
shape can be seen in Fig. 12.
12
FIG. 12:THE DEFORMED SHAPE
FIG. 13: DISPLACEMENTS ON X ( HORIZONTAL) DIRECTION
13
FIG. 14: DISPLACEMENTS ON Y (VERTICAL) DIRECTION
6 Conclusion
The gravity dam presented in this project is deforming as expected, after applying all the
loads. The impervious screen creates a change in the flow net and therefore the uplift pressure at
the heel of the dam is reduced and the total upflift pressure downstream is being decreased.
14

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Final Project SHFWS

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Structures for Hydraulic Facilities and

Student number: N=4

STUDENT NUMBER N=4

FIG. 1: GRAPHICAL DISPLAY ALONG WITH SECTION GEOMETRY (CADAM)

3 Structural model and assessment of loads

FIG. 1: STRUCTURAL MODEL IN 1ST CASE

FIG. 3: DEFORMED SHAPE – 1ST CASE (OWN WIGHT)

FIG. 4: STRUCTURAL MODEL IN ANSYS IN 2ND CASE

FIG. 5: DEFORMED SHAPE – 2ND CASE (HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE-UPSTREAM)

FIG. 6: STRUCTURAL MODEL REGARDING THE SEEPAGE

FIG. 7: EQUIPOTENTIAL LINES

Uplift pressures variation under the dam

Variation of uplift forces under the dam

FIG. 10: VARIATION OF UPLIFT FORCES UNDER THE DAM

The value for the abovementioned uplift forces is presented in Table 1.

FIG. 11: FINAL STRUCTURAL MODEL

FIG. 12:THE DEFORMED SHAPE

FIG. 13: DISPLACEMENTS ON X ( HORIZONTAL) DIRECTION

FIG. 14: DISPLACEMENTS ON Y (VERTICAL) DIRECTION

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