21 November, 2013

EXERCISE # 2
Dam foundation interaction in the case of a gravity dam
The present exercise refers to a simple stress-displacement problem solved using the FE !ith the "N#$#
computer code %educational version &'2(' The aim is to ilustrate the significance of the foundation roc)
deformabilit* in stress state' " gravit* dam is sub+ected to !ater pressure' T!o cases are anal*sed, %1(
deformable foundation - roc) deformation modulus is 1-. of concrete deformation modulus/ %2( rigid foundation
- roc) deformation modulus is 10 times larger than concrete deformation modulus'
#teps to be follo!ed running the finite elements anal*sis,
1' 0nstall the "ns*s program on the 12, using the setup.exe file' 1erform the t*pical
installation, choosing al!a*s the Continue option'
2' 2reate a !or)ing folder on *our hard dis), in an* partition %if an*(' 3hen choosing folder or
file names, pa* attention to avoid blan) characters %the space character(444 0f *ou chose names build on
t!o or more !ords, *ou should connect them b* a 5-5 %dash( or 565 %underscore( character %for example
5FE-TE#T-15 or 5example61'txt5('
3' 2op* the text file "dam-DHmodel.txt" in the !or)ing folder for the case of deformabale foundation
and then for the second run the "dam-RHmodel.txt" for the case of rigid foundation'
.' 7aunch the "ns*s program using the Interactive option from the Programs
command bar' This option !ill help *ou to launch the program in the !or)ing folder' The "ns*s
program al!a*s creates its o!n files in the folder !here it is launched %5file'db5, 5file'rst5, 5file'err5,
etc(' Excepting setting up the !or)ing folder, do not change the other default settings' 2hose the Save
and run button'
&' 8nce the main menu and the graphical !indo! appear on the screen, load the finite elements
model into the "ns*s program' For this tas) *ou should chose the "Read input from..." option
from the File menu %upper-left corner(' 0f the "ns*s program is launched in the !or)ing folder, the
5dam-model'txt5 file !ill be in the list' 9ubble clic) on the file name or select it and clic) OK.
:' The "ns*s program !ill read the commands defining the model, !hile the lo!er-left corner of
the model !ill appear on the graphical screen' " !arning message telling *ou that the file does not
exist, usuall* means that the folder or file name contains a blan) %space( character'
;' 8nce the finite elements model is loaded, *ou can visuali<e it b* t*ping the eplot command in the
interactive commands line %that means 5elements plot5(' 9o not forget to push the Enter button after an*
command t*ped in the command line4 The graphical settings !ritten in the input text file 5dam-model'txt5
alread* assigned different colors to the different materials used in the model' The !ater pressure applied on
the upstream face of the dam is also represented %colors are associated !ith pressure values(' The triangles
around the foundation roc) mass contour are s*mboli<ing the suppressed degrees of freedom
%displacements(' ore details regarding the 5dam-model'txt5 and the meaning of each command can be seen
1
b* opening it !ith the Notepad' 9o not ma)e an* changes in the text file, before learning more about
"ns*s444'
=' No! *ou can go on !ith the #olution routine' 0n order to access the solution, t*pe the /solution command
in the command line %or chose the Solution button in the main menu(' >ecause al data !ere defined and
stored due to the input text file, the onl* necessar* command in order to solve the problem is solve. T*pe
this command in the command line %follo!ed as al!a*s b* Enter.
?' " !arning message !ill appear on the screen because the linear triangular finite elements are usuall* not
recommended in the mesh' 9isregard the !arning and chose the !es option %the anal*sis !ill be performed
an*!a*(' "lmost instantl*, the Solution done message !ill appear on the screen'
10'T*pe finis" in the command line to exit the solution routine'
11' To access the post-processing phase of the anal*sis, t*pe the /postl command in the command line or clic)
on the #eneral postprocessor button in the main menu'
12'The follo!ing commands !ill help *ou to visuali<e some results' @suall*, the first and most intuitive
representation is the deformed shape of the model' The "ns*s program sets up b* default the deformed
shapeAs scale, to emphasi<e the deformation %the displacements are usuall* larger comparing !ith the
geometrical dimensions(' To plot the deformed shape, t*pe the pldisp$% command in the command line
%meaning 5plot displacement5, !hile the )e* option 2 is a graphical setting helping the user to visuali<e on
the same plot the un-deformed contour of the model('
13'To represent the vertical displacements distribution over the model, t*pe the plns$u$& command %meaning
5plot nodal solution5(' #imilarl*, for hori<ontal displacements, t*pe the plns$u$x command' The colored
contours are labeled !ith displacement values in the legend dra!n at the upper right corner of the !indo!'
The values are al!a*s expressed in the same units used to define the model %in this case meters4( !ile the
correctness of results depends on the input data %material properties, etc('
1.'To represent the vertical stress distribution ay over the model, t*pe the plns$s$& command' #imilarl*,
for hori<ontal stresses ax, t*pe the plns$s$x command' The colored contours are labeled !ith stress
values in the legend dra!n at the upper right corner of the !indo!' The values are in this case
expressed in BN-sCm'
1&'The same parameters can be plotted %using the same commands( after selecting parts of the model,
corresponding to the different assigned materials %dam bod* - concrete/ foundation - roc) mass(' 0n
order to select the finite elements b* their assigned material, use the follo!ing commands seCuence
%t*ped in the command line(,
esel$mat$'
nelem
eplo
Note, the first command selects the elements !ith assigned material no' 1/ the second one associates the
corresponding nodes/ the last one dra!s the selected elements'
No! *ou can use again the previous plots for the dam bod*'
To select the finite elements corresponding to the roc) mass, use the follo!ing command seCuence,
esel$mat$%
nelem
eplo
2
No! *ou can use again the previous plots for the roc) mass'
1:' 0n order to restore the !hole model, t*pe the follo!ing seCuence,
eall nall
eplo
1;' 0n order to plot a certain result value along a cross section *ou have to define first the
cross section %line in a 29 case( b* the nodes located on that line, or b* the first and
the last nodes if the selected cross section is a straight line,
lpat"$node' $node%$node($.....
8r
lpat"$firstnode$lastnode
9efine the t*pe of value *ou !ant to plot' To represent the vertical stress distribution o* over the cross section,
t*pe the pdef$s&$s$& command' #imilarl*, for hori<ontal stresses ox t*pe the pdef$s&$s$x command' To
represent vertical displacements t*pe the pdef$s&$u$& and so on' For a better definition of the plot scale it is
recommended to define the range of values *ou expect to have for the selected result along the cross section'
The follo!ing command is not mandator* but is recommended,
/&range$&min$&max
!here *min is the minimum value and *max is the maximum value of the results to be on that particular cross
section'
The effective plot is made if *ou t*pe plpat"$s&
ANALYSIS RESULTS
9iscreti<ation of the dam-foundation s*stem, loads and boundar* conditions are presented in the next figure'
The results should loo) li)e the follo!ings,
3
Case '. )eforma*le foundation
Displacements:
Vertical Stresses Pattern:
.
Case %. Rigid foundation
Displacements:
Vertical Stresses Pattern:
&