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HYDRAULIC STRUCTURES
DAMS
by:
Dr. Zahiraniza Mustaffa
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General Content:
Introduction
Introduction to Dams
Dams Classification
Material classifications
Concrete Gravity Dam
Forces (Loads) on the Dam
Load Combination
Stability Analysis
Ancillary Structures
Spillways etc. (will be covered later)
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Introduction
What is a dam?
A dam is a barrier structure placed
across a watercourse to store water.
Why do we need dams?
To fulfill many functions like water
supply (domestic, irrigation &
industrial), flood mitigation, hydropower
development and irrigation.
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Dam
Energy Dissipator
Structures
Hydraulic jump
Reservoir
Q
Spillway
Typical Layout of a Dam
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Dams Classification
Dams can be classified in many ways:
Size:
Dams vary in size from a few meters in height to
massive structures of over 100 m in height.
Large Dam (H >15 m or Reservoir Volume > 3 x
10
6
m
3
)
Small Dam
Purpose:
- Water Supply (domestic, irrigation & industrial), Flood
Mitigation, Hydropower and Irrigation Dams.
Material:
- Earthfill, Rockfill, Gravity (Concrete), Arch, Buttress
etc
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Kenyir Dam, Terengganu
(10-11 April, 2004)
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Kenyir Dam, Terengganu
(10-11 April, 2004)
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Dams Classification Material
Earthfill (Embankment) Dam
Rockfill Dam
Concrete Gravity Dam
Buttress Dam
Arch Dam
Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) Dam
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Fine material
Coarse material
Filter material
EARTHFILL DAM
An embankment that uses earth soil (natural
materials excavated nearby the area) to
provide stability.
The materials are compacted.
Impermeable materials at the centre to
prevent seepage
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ROCKFILL DAM
Impervious face
Rock
An embankment that uses variable sizes of
rocks to provide stability.
A thin membrane (impervious) on its
upstream face for water tightness.
More stable than an earthfill dam. Cheaper
than concrete dams.
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CONCRETE GRAVITY DAM
Concrete
A dam that applies its weight (gravitational
forces) for stability.
Normally in triangular shape (side view).
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ARCH DAM
Concrete
Narrow in size, in which the abutments are of
massive rock of the canyon.
Is designed to transfer the imposed loads to
the adjacent rock walls on either side of the
canyon.
Hard to construct. Cheaper than concrete
gravity dams.
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BUTTRESS DAM
Concrete
Buttress
A hollow gravity dam.
Buttresses of reinforced concrete rest on the
rock foundation and support a watertight
sloping face of the dam.
Cheaper than concrete gravity dams.
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Concrete Gravity Dam
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Concrete gravity dams are designed so that
the weight of the dam itself (gravity force) is
sufficient to resist overturning by the applied
forces.
The forces that must be considered in the
design of a dam are:
1. Weight of the dam
2. Hydrostatic forces (u/s and d/s of the dam)
3. Hydrostatic uplift force
4. Earthquake force
5. Silt force
6. Ancillary forces (roadway etc)
7. Others (ice, waves, wind forces etc)
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ICE JAMS ALONG A RIVER
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ICE JAMS NEAR A BRIDGE
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ICE JAMS
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F
U
W
F
p1
F
p2
W
w
1
2
Forces Acting on a Dam
HW
TW
HW = headwater
TW = tailwater
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R
F
y
F
x
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1. Weight of Dam (W)
Necessary to include:
Weight of the dam, W
The weight of dam per unit (1 m) length,
Weight of other ancillary structures like gates,
bridges, roadways etc.
The resultant weight acts at the centroid of the dam
i.e. at 1/3 of the dam width, b (from the heel).
Forces on Dam
where, A
c
is the area of the dam (side view) and,
c
is the
specific weight of concrete (24 kN/m
3
or 2400 kg/ m
3
).
(kN/m)
c c
A W =
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b/3
b
W
Heel
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2. Hydrostatic Forces (F
p
)
Sometimes referred to as external hydrostatic
pressure.
Hydrostatic forces are forces acting at the
upstream and downstream faces of the dam.
The hydrostatic force, F
p
per unit (1 m) length is
given by:
2
2
h
F
w
p

=
where,
w
is the specific weight of
water (9.81 kN/m
3
) and h
is the vertical depth of
water.
(kN/m)
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b/3
F
p1
F
p2
W
w
1
2
h
1
/3
h
2
/3
b
h
2
h
1
Toe
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For a vertical surface, F
p
is acting
horizontally at 1/3 of the water depth,
measured from the base of the dam.
For an inclined surface, there are 2 forces
acting on the surface, namely F
p
(acts
horizontally) and weight of water,W
w
(acts
vertically).
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W
w
is described as follows:
Its magnitude is equal to the weight of
volume of water per unit (1 m) length
directly above the inclined face of the
dam.
It is acting through the centroid of the
volume of water, i.e. at 1/3 of b,
measured from the toe.
w w w
A W =
where, A
w
is the area of the
water (side view)
(kN/m)
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3. Hydrostatic Uplift Force (F
U
)
Sometimes is referred to as internal
hydrostatic pressure.
Hydrostatic uplift force is a force produced by
water (under pressure) in the pores of the
concrete dam and foundation.
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After the reservoir is filled, water will tend to
move/seep from u/s to d/s/.
It will seep into the pores of the concrete
(despite the low permeability of the concrete) and
its foundation.
When the seepage water is stable (resulting
in a saturated condition), a pressure head
gradient will develop along the base of the
dam.
This will give extra pressure force to the
dam!
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For a dam without tailwater (TW) effect:
F
U
drops linearly from u/s to d/s; resulting
in a triangular pressure distribution
diagram, decreasing from
w
h
1
to 0.
For a dam with tailwater (TW) effect:
F
U
drops linearly from u/s to d/s; resulting
in a trapezoidal pressure distribution
diagram, decreasing from
w
h
1
to
w
h
2
.
How does a pressure head gradient look like?
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F
U
b/3
b
h
1

w
h
1
A dam without tailwater (TW)
at downstream section
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F
U
b
h
1
h
2

w
h
1

w
h
2
A dam with tailwater (TW)
at downstream section
TW
x
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The uplift force, F
U
per unit (1 m) length is
determined by:
F
U
is measured at the centroid of the uplift
pressure distribution diagram, measured from
the toe of the dam.
u w u
A F =
where,
w
is the specific weight of water (9.81
kN/m
3
), A
u
is the area of uplift pressure
distribution diagram.
(kN/m)
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Is F
U
good for the stability of the dam?
Why?
How can we control F
U
?
Constructing cut-offs:
Grout curtain
Drainage curtain
Creating a more impervious zone at the
foundation
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Grout Curtain
A line constructed at
the foundation to
block water
seepage from u/s to
d/s of the dam.
A hole of 4-6cm are
drilled at the heel.
Cement grout is
pumped into the
holes (to seal the
cracks in the rocks).
Drainage Curtain
A row of holes
drilled just d/s from
the grout curtain.
To intercept any
seepage which may
escape past the
grout curtain. The
seepage is collected
in the drain and
flows away by
gravity or pump.
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Grout curtain
Holes
Grout Curtain
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Holes
Drain curtain
Drain Curtain
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Impervious Zone
Impervious
zone
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4. Earthquake Force (F
e
)
When an earthquake occurs, the earth
shakes (vibrates) at an acceleration, a.
The dam will be accelerated due to the
earthquake with an initial force, F
e
but at
opposite direction to a.
F
e
is acting at the centroid of the dam.
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F
e
is given by,
F
e
= Ma
a can be in the range of 0.05g to 0.5g, with
g stands for acceleration due to gravity.
where, M is the mass of the dam and a is the
earthquake acceleration.
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Load Combination
Not all loads mentioned earlier are
considered when designing a dam.
Why?
The load selections are based on
below conditions:
Normal Load Combination (NLC)
Unusual Load Combination (ULC)
Extreme Load Combination (ELC)
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Load Combinations
Load Source Qualifications
NLC ULC ELC
Primary
Secondary (if applicable)
Headwater
Tailwater
Self-weight
Uplift
Silt
Ice
Exceptional
Earthquake
At DFL
At NFL
\ \
\
\ \
\
\ \
\
\
\ \
\ \
\
\
\ \
\
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Stability Analysis
The stability of a dam can be checked by
using the Simple Gravity Method.
The stability analysis checks:
1. Safety against stresses
2. Safety against sliding
3. Safety against overturning
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Safety Against Stresses
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Lets talk about stress
Stress, o.
Unit of stress = N/mm
2
Two common stresses:
Tensile stress leads to tension
Compressive stress leads to compression
Stress =
Pressure?
compression
tension
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Toe
Heel
Tensile stress
Compressive stress
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Crushing
Cracking
Heel
Toe
Why are stresses not desired in a dam?
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There are many stresses acting on a
dam but the focus will be given on
vertical normal stresses, o acting on a
horizontal plane.
Uplift load, F
u
is excluded in the stress
determination.
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o
d/s
o
u/s
Stress Diagram at
Dam Foundation
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At the base of a dam, the normal stresses can
be either tensile or compressive.
BUT, it is not desired to have any tensile stress
at the heel, so only the compressive stresses
are allowed at BOTH heel and toe, given by:
|
.
|

\
|

E
=
b
e
b
F
y
heel
6
1
'
o
|
.
|

\
|
+
E
=
b
e
b
F
y
toe
6
1
'
o
concrete
o <
foundation
o <
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where,
F
y
is the resultant vertical forces above
the plane considered (exclusive uplift),
b is the base width of the dam and e
is eccentricity of the resultant load R (the
horizontal distance from the centre of
the base to the point where R acts) .
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e is obtained from the equation,
e MUST be,
if not, o
u/s
will be negative, i.e tensile stress, which
leads to tension at the heel. This will cause
cracking. Not good!
A good dam design is when the dam is free from
tensile stress at the heel. How to strengthen the
heel from developing tensile stresses?
'
y
F
M
e

=
6
b
e s
where, is the summation of
moments at toe and is the
summation of all vertical forces
(exclusive uplift).
x
M
'
y
F
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b/2
b
L
x
e
+M
F
x
F
y
R
F
x
F
y
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Allowable concrete stress, o
con(allw)
:
2000 kPa < o
con(allw)
< 4000 kPa
Allowable foundation stress, o
found(allw)
:
Foundation Materials Allowable stress, o
found(all)
(kPa)
Granite
Limestone
Sandstone
Gravel
Sand
Stiff Clay
Soft Clay
4000 6000
3000 4000
2500 3500
300 600
200 400
200 400
50 100
Note: Pa = N/m
2
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Safety Against Sliding
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Sliding?
How would you hold yourself from
sliding if somebody pushed you?
A dam can resist sliding if the ratio of the
horizontal force, F
x
to the vertical force, F
y
is
smaller than a safety factor, f . Or,
f
F
F
y
x
s

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Sliding
Worst scenarios that could
happen to a dam!
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f can be obtained from laboratory analyses
as summarized below:
Materials f
Sound rock, clean and irregular surface
Rock, some jointing and laminations
Gravel and coarse sand
Sand
Shale
0.8
0.7
0.4
0.3
0.3
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Safety Against Overturning
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Overturning?
Overturning would occur if the resultant
force, R fell outside the toe.
But sometimes as R is moving closer to the
toe, the dam already experiences many
failures like crushing, cracking and sliding.
This is explained in the next slide:
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Overturning
Worst scenarios that could
happen to a dam!
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Will cause
overturning
Safe from
overturning
R
R
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As R moves closer to the toe (e is closer to
toe), pressure at heel decreases and
pressure at toe increases.
Tension occurs at heel, resulting in a further increase in
uplift pressure, and excessive compressive stresses at
toe result in crushing.
Eventually, before a dam overturns, it experience crushing
(toe), cracking (heel) and increasing in uplift and sliding.
Therefore, a dam is safe from overturning if the criteria
of no tension on the upstream face, the resistance
against sliding, and the quantity of concrete/foundation
is good.
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A dam can resist overturning if the ratio of
the summation of all restoring (+ve)
moments to the summation of all overturning
(-ve) moments is within the allowable safety
factor, f
o
. Or,
with,
f
o
> 1.5 is desirable, and
f
o
> 1.25 is generally regarded as
acceptable.
o
ve
ve
f
M
M
=

+
+ve
M