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Documents - Null-Forces Acting On Gravity Dams - Nagendra Sir

The document discusses the various forces that act on gravity dams, including water pressure, uplift pressure, earthquake forces, silt pressure, wave pressure, and ice pressure. It provides details on calculating the forces from each of these factors and discusses their effects on dam stability and critical design cases.

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Ararsa Fayisa
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63 views6 pages

Documents - Null-Forces Acting On Gravity Dams - Nagendra Sir

The document discusses the various forces that act on gravity dams, including water pressure, uplift pressure, earthquake forces, silt pressure, wave pressure, and ice pressure. It provides details on calculating the forces from each of these factors and discusses their effects on dam stability and critical design cases.

Uploaded by

Ararsa Fayisa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Forces Acting on Gravity Dams:

Forces that act on a gravity dam (Fig.1) are due to:

• Water Pressure(Hydrostatic)
• Uplift Pressure
• Earthquake Acceleration
• Silt Pressure
• Wave Pressure
• Ice Pressure

>> Self Weight (W) counters the forces listed above.

Fig.1 Forces on Gravity Dams

Force due to hydrostatic Pressure:

Force due to hydrostatic Pressure is the major external force on a gravity


dam. The intensity of pressure from zero at the water surface to the
maximum (γH) at the base. The force due to this pressure is given by γH2,
acting at H/3 from the base. In Fig.1, the forces P1 and P2 are due to
hydrostatic pressure acting on the upstream and the downstream sides
respectively. These are horizontal components of the hydrostatic force due to
head water (upstream side) and tail water (downstream side) of the dam
respectively.

The forces marked as P3 and P4 are the weight of water held over the
inclined faces of the dam on the upstream slope and downstream slope
respectively. These are the respective vertical components of the hydrostatic
force on the two faces mentioned.

Force due to Uplift Pressure:

Water that seeps through the pores, cracks and fissures of the foundation
material and water that seeps through the body of the dam to the bottom
through the joints between the body of the dam and the foundation at the
base, exert an uplift pressure on the base of the dam. The force (U) due to
this acts against the weight of the dam and thus contributes to destabilizing
the dam.

According to the recommendation of the United States Bureau of


Reclamation (USBR), the uplift pressure intensities at the heel (upstream
end) and the toe (downstream end) are taken to be equal to the respective
hydrostatic pressures. A linear variation of the uplift pressure is often
assumed between the heel and the toe. Drainage galleries can be provided
(Fig.1) to relieve the uplift pressure. In such a case, the uplift pressure
diagram gets modified as shown in Fig.1.

Earthquake Forces :

The effect of an earthquake is perceived as imparting an acceleration to the


foundations of the dam in the direction in which the wave travels at that
moment. It can be viewed (resolved) as horizontal and vertical components
of the random acceleration.

Horizontal acceleration (h) is assumed to be equal to 0.1*g - 0.2*g, and the


vertical acceleration (v ) is assumed to be equal to 0.1*g (default values).
Depending on the severity of the earthquake zone, these values will have to
be modified.
Effect of Horizontal acceleration :

The horizontal acceleration may cause two forces: i) hydrodynamic pressure


and ii) the horizontal inertial force into the body of the dam.

i) Hydrodynamic Force: The Hydrodynamic Pressure variation may be


assumed to be Parabolic.

According to Von-Korman, the force due to the hydrodynamic pressure is


expressed as: Pe = 0.555 (g) (H12), and acts at (4H1 /3) from the base.

Then, the moment due to the hydrodynamic force = Me = Pe * (4H1 /3)

ii) Horizontal inertial force = (W/g) * (h)

This force is generated so as to keep the body of the dam and the
foundations together as one piece. Hence, the direction of this force will be
opposite to that of the acceleration imparted by the earthquake.
The critical cases for the design will be:

For the reservoir full condition, the horizontal inertial forces due to
earthquake being in the same direction as the horizontal force due to the
hydrostatic water pressure (acting towards downstream). This means that the
direction of the horizontal earthquake acceleration will be towards the
upstream reservoir.

For the reservoir empty condition, the critical case will happen when the
horizontal inertial forces due to earthquake being in the opposite direction to
the horizontal force due to the hydrostatic water pressure (acting towards
upstream). This means that the direction of the horizontal earthquake
acceleration will be towards the downstream.

Effect of Vertical acceleration :

Upward : The effective weight of the dam increases and hence the stresses
developed will increase.

Downward: This reduces the effective weight, in turn reducing the stability
of the dam. This is a more critical case for the design.

Hence, the net effective weight of the dam = W - W/g (v)

Force due to Silt Pressure:

Silt gets deposited against the upstream face of the dam. If 'hs' is the height
of the silt deposited, then the force exerted by the silt is given by Rankhine's
formula):
If the upstream face is inclined, then, the weight of the silt supported on the
slope is also to be considered.

In the absence of reliable data on silt type that would be deposited, the
U.S.B.R. recommendations may be adopted:

In most of the gravity dam designs, silt pressure may be neglected – think
about the possible reasons!!

Wave Pressure: Waves are generated on the reservoir surface because of


the wind blowing over it. Wave pressure depends on the height of the wave
developed. Wave height may be calculated from the following formula given
by D.A. Molitor.

hw = height of waves in meters, between trough and crest


V= wind velocity in km per hour; F = fetch or straight length of water
expanse, in km.
Fig. Wave Pressure.

The Pressure intensity due to waves is given by

pw = 2.4 γ hw, where pw is the maximum unit pressure which occurs at


(1/8)*hw above the still water surface (denoted by dash and dot symbol in
the Figure above). The pressure distribution is in fact curvilinear. However,
for design purposes, the pressure distribution may be assumed to be
represented by a triangle of height equal to (5/3)*hw.

Hence the total force due to the wave pressure (Pw) is given by:

Pw = 0.5* (2.4 hw) * (5/3)hw = 2 γ h2w

and this acts at a distance of (3/8)*hw above the reservoir surface, as shown
in the Fig. above.

Ice thrust at reservoir level :

Varies from 250 to 1500 kN/m2, depending on temperature variations.


Average value = 500 kN/m2 acts along the length of the dam.

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