Authors: ZHANG Guo-xin, YANG Bo, ZHANG Jing-hua (China institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China)

Abstract: The finite element equivalent stress method was applied to calculate the stresses of 4 RCC arch dams to analyze the effect of arch sealing temperature on thermal load at different dam heights. The perennial average temperature of the dam and the temperature during impounding obtained from simulation analysis were taken as the initial conditions to carry out the calculation respectively. The following conclusions are obtained: (1) The difference between temperature load calculated by taking perennial average temperature as the arch sealing temperature and temperature load calculated by simulating method will increase with the increase of dam height. For arch dams which higher than 100m, simulating analysis method should be used to study the temperature load to determine the real arch sealing temperature. (2) If second phase water cooling and arch sealing and grouting are not carried out, adequate argumentation should be conducted. Generally, large tensile stress will appear on the dam heel, which will induce cracking of the dam heel. (3) Water cooling pipe and joint setting measures should be jointly adopted to RCC high arch dam. To reduce the temperature load in operation, by using second phase water cooling to lower the dam temperature to designed arch sealing temperature before impounding, and then conduct arch sealing and grouting.

Key words: roller compacted concrete, arch sealing temperature, temperature load, simulating analysis, equivalent stress

Published in: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Vol. 42, No. 7, 2011
Article ID: 0559-9350 (2011) 07-0812-07