Numerical analyses of concrete buttress dams to design dam monitoring

Abstract: Old concrete buttress dams are sensitive to cracking if exposed to large temperature variations. The cracks can make dams sensitive to failure, depending on the size and location of the cracks. These problems can be overcome by lowering the temperature variations and stabilizing the dams. Insulation walls can be built to lower the temperature variations, and the area inside the insulation wall can be climate controlled to ensure a constant temperature. Stabilizing measures could be installing tendons, anchoring monoliths to the foundation or to keep parts of the monolith together. However, the best way to make sure the dam is functioning as expected is to monitor the behavior of the dam through different sensors. The sensors should be connected to some kind of dam monitoring software, which can indicate whether the dam is going to fail in a near future. For this to work, some kind of alert and alarm values has to be determined. The main purpose for this project is to develop a finite element model that could be used to simulate the real behavior of a concrete buttress dam and predict the future behavior of the dam. This makes it possible to determine alert and alarm values for monitoring equipment installed on the dam. Some steps are necessary to be able to create a finite element model representing the real behavior and to predict the future behavior of a dam. A first step is calibration of the model against real measurements, and during the calibration process it is important to evaluate the predictions made. A second step is to determine the normal variation in the behavior of the dam. A last step is to define suitable alert and alarm values, where the alert values are based on the normal variation of the dam and the alarm values are based on failure analyses. The results show that it is possible to calibrate a finite element model with sufficient accuracy in order for it to be used for predictions of the dams behavior. The results show two failure modes of the concrete buttress dam which deviate from previous research, where post-tensioned tendons were not included. From the results, information is given about where to place sensors to be able to capture a failure, how well the finite element model is calibrated, and what the alarm values should be. Furthermore, the results show that the evaluation of predictions made in the calibration process is of utmost importance to achieve a model representing the real behavior.