Contact Analysis on the Longitudinal Joint of Gravity Dam

Abstract

In order to understand the contact condition of longitudinal joint of gravity dam and its influence on dam body stress, taking a concrete gravity dam section as the research object, the numerical simulations with 3D nonlinear FEM is carried out through the simulating of the construction period, the grouting process and the operation period. It shows that the opening of the longitudinal joint varies with many kinds of factors, such as the year temperature, water cooling, water load on the upstream surface, the construction process and so on. Under the present condition, secondary grouting to the longitudinal joint may not be carried temporarily. The computation results are basically in agreement with the prototype monitoring data.

Experimental and Numerical Investigations on Crack Intersection and Propagation of Concrete Structures

“…Various cracks, even large-scale longitudinal penetrating cracks (Batta & Pekau, 1996;Horii & Chen, 2003;Zhang et al, 2013), occur in concrete structures under temperature change, foundation settlement, or overload due to their low material tensile strength. In addition, the gravity dams with longitudinal cracks built in earlier years form open longitudinal cracks due to poor grouting or no grouting treatment (Cui et al, 2011). Under the external environment or load, the original cracks in the structure expand and intersect, while the new cracks may also intersect with the original cracks (Shi et al, 2013).…”