Analysis of air‐inflated rubber dam for flood‐fighting at the subway entrance

Abstract

The air-inflated rubber dam is innovatively adopted in this paper for temporary flood-fighting at the subway entrance. Numerical studies using the FLAC 2D software are carried out to investigate the behavior of the proposed structure. Laboratory model tests are also conducted to verify the accuracy of the numerical model. The results from the model tests agree well with those from the numerical analysis. Parametric studies are carried out to investigate the influences of the external floodwater head, inflated air pressure, and anchor position on the performance of the proposed air-inflated rubber dam. It is found that the external floodwater head reduces the tensile force but nonlinearly increases the height of the rubber dam. The inflated air pressure has no obvious effect on the cross-section of the rubber dam but heavily influences the ultimate flood-fighting height and tensile force. An optimum design line for the inflated air pressure of the rubber dam is provided. A deeper anchor position results in a smaller ultimate flood-fighting height. A rubber dam design with a lower anchor depth that has to satisfy the requirements of the anchor bolt is therefore concluded.

Flood risk research for improving flood risk outcomes

“…This Issue of the Journal of Flood Risk Management (Volume 16, Issue 1—March 2023) exemplifies this multiplicity in evidence and the diversity of knowledge advancement and I herein focus on just two different examples, but of course I would commend all the contributions. Guo et al (2023) combine several types of data and analysis to consider the effectiveness of inflatable dam structures for preventing flooding to a subway system. Combining laboratory tests and subsequent numerical modelling analysis, they have been able to analyse and isolate the key engineering features (e.g., air‐inflated air pressure of the dam, anchoring depth, dam height) of the temporary structure as well as the conditions (e.g., flood type and forces) that it will effectively perform.…”