CHAPTER- 2

Design Principle of Concrete Dams

Gravity Dam
INTRODUCTION
 Concrete dams:- are classified as
–Gravity dam
- Buttress dam
- Arch dam

Gravity dams:- requires almost sound rock foundations.

:- can resist overflow and spillway can be installed
in side dam
:- then dam consists over flow and non over flow
section.
:-The section is so proportioned that it resists the
various forces acting on it by its own weight.
 Gravity Dams Load

 Forces that act on gravity dam can be categorized into three:-

1. primary loads,
2. Secondary loads and
3. exceptional loads.
1.Primary loads are:- weight of dam, water pressure & Uplift
pressure
2. secondary loads are:-wave pressure, silt pressure, ice
pressure & wind pressure.
3. Exceptional loads are:-Earth quake force.
 Primary Loads

1.Weight of the dam:- the main stabilizing force act

centroid from toe.

 W1= T*H*ρ*g-material, acting at (L-T) +T/2 from the

toe (point C)
 W2= ½*h*L*ρ*g-material, acting at 2/3(L-T) from the
toe (point C).
 CONT.…
2.Water Load:- The water pressure acting on the non-over flow
section and overflow section is different and should be treated
separately.
 . Non over flow section as shown in earlier slide.

• Overflow Section

 The horizontal component of force due to water pressure per unit length of the dam
is given by:-
 PH1=γ (Hd + Ha) (H), acts at (H)/2 and
 PH2=0.5*γ (H) (H), acts at (H)/3 from the base.
 Cont.…
 Seepage & Uplift load:-The water entering at the interface
between the dam and within the foundation.
 The magnitude of the uplift pressure can be computed as

below:
• If there is tail water as shown on figure: U1= [γ h’ *L] and acts at
L/2 and U2= [γ *(H-h’)*L/2] and acts at 2/3L from toe of the dam.
 * If there is no tail water, Wu= γ H*L/2 and acts at 2/3L from the
toe of the dam.
CONT.…
 Due to gallery
 Due to tension crack.

 Example-1: Determine the self-weight, water and uplift

pressure for the figure shown below and force action for
point C. Take the unit weight of the material as 24KN/m3 and
unit weight of water as 10KN/m3.
 CONTI..
1. Self weight: The self weigh can be divided in two: W1=4*20*24=
1920KN/m acting at (20‐4)+4/2=18m from point C. W2= [0.5*15*(20‐
4)*24] = 2880KN/m acting at 2/3*(20‐4) =10.67m from point C.
2. Water pressure: It has three components as computed below:
i. U/s water pressure: PH=0.5*10*18^2=1620KN/m and acts at 18/3=6m
from the base.
ii. D/s water pressure: Ph’= 0.5*10*5^2=125KN/m and acts at 5/3=1.67m
from the base.
iii. Downward water pressure: W3= 0.5*5.33*5*10= 133.25KN/m
3. Uplift pressure:
Wu1= 5*20*10= 1000KN/m and acts at 20/2= 10m from point C.
Wu2= 0.5*(18‐5)*20*10= 1300KN/m and acts at 2/3*20= 13.33m from
point C.
CONT.…
 Exercise 2: Determine the uplift force at the base of a gravity dam as
shown on the figure below for the following three cases:
 a)-No drains,
 b)-with drains at a distance of 5m from the u/s end and
 c)-Tension crack up to 2m from the u/s end. Assume the unit weight
material as 24KN/m3 and of water 10KN/m3.

Drainage gallery
 SECONDARY LOADS
 Sediment Load:-Silt is deposited exerts overturning force.
 :-The silt pressure can be computed by Rankine’s
 Theory  * h 2  1  sin  
Psh  sub s
 
2  1  sin  
 Wave Load:-
 CONT…
 The total water pressure force per unit length is given by:
Pw=2.0*γ *hw 2
 The line of action is at a height of 0.375hw above the sill water level.

hw  0.032 V .F  0.76  0.24 F 

1/ 4

 Wind load:-When the dam is full, wind acts only on the d/s side
 thus contribute to stability
 Ice load:- Not a problem in Ethiopia.
 Pice =145 KN/m2 for ice > 0.6m thick, other wise
 neglected
 EXCEPTIONAL LOADS
 Seismic load:-The dam has to resist the inertia forces caused by
the sudden movement of earth’s crest
:-Horizontal & vertical inertia loads are generated with respect to
the dam & the retained water by seismic disturbance.
:-(h =2v).
i. Effect on Retained water:- The additional water pressure exerted
due to the earthquake is known as hydrodynamic pressure.
 - hydrodynamic force is computed zager’s Eqn.this intensity at any
 depth y is given by:-
Pey i  C *  h *  w * y

Where:-‘C’ is a dimensionless coefficient depends on u/s slope and

depth of water
 Cont.…
Cm y y y y 
C  2    2  
2  H  H  H  H  
 
Cm  0.735 1   / 900

 is the angle in degree in which the u/s face
makes
 with the vertical.
 * The Resultant hydrodynamic force acting horizontally is
obtained by integration as
 PeyT  0.726 peH * H acts at a height of
about0.41*H
• The moment of the force about is given by:


M ey  0.299 peH i * H 2 
EXAMPLE
 Determine the total hydrodynamic force and moment at the
base of the dam of height 90m, free board 3m and u/s slope
1:10 as shown below. Take αh=0.10

1
87.0
10 0.7
1
CONTI...
 Cont.…
 ii. Effect on the dam:-the force due to earthquake can occur
 due to horizontal and vertical
acceleration.
 Effect of horizontal acceleration:-The horizontal force due to
earthquake
 Fhh=Mass of the dam*horizontal acceleration

W 
Fh    *   h * g    h * W

g acts at the center of gravity of
mass.
 But the above Eqn. modified According to Response spectrum
method, the total force and moment above the base of the dam
can be given by 
F  0.6 * W *  h M  0.9 * W H *  h
 Cont.…
 Effect of Vertical acceleration:-The vertical force due to
earthquake
 Fv=M* Vertical acceleration=αv*W.
 Example-2: Calculate the earthquake forces and moments
acting on the base of the dam as shown below.
 Take and Ignore the effect of vertical acceleration.
conc  24 KN / m3
 h  0.152
SCHEMATIC OF PRINCIPAL FORCES ON GRAVITY DAMS
Load combinations
 A concrete dam should be designed with regard to the
most rigorous groupings or combination of loads which
have a reasonable probability of simultaneous occurrence.
 CONT.…
 Load Combination A(construction condition):-dam completed but
No water in the reservoir u/s and d/s tail water.
 Load Combination B(Normal operating condition):-Full reservoir
elevation, No tail water, Normal uplift, ice and silt load.
 Load Combination C(Flood Discharge condition):-Reservoir at
maximum flood level, Maximum tail water, Normal uplift and silt load.
 Load Combination D:-Load Combination A + Earth quake.
 Load Combination E:-Load Combination B + Earth quake but No ice
Load.
 Load Combination F :-Load Combination C + Earth quake + with
Extreme Uplift Pressure.
 Load Combination G:- Load Combination E + Earth quake + with
Extreme Uplift Pressure..
DESIGN & ANALYSIS OF GRAVITY DAM
 Modes of failure – Overturning failure, Sliding failure, Tension
failure, Crushing failures.
 Overturning Stability:-The overturning failure occurs when the
resultant of all the forces acting on the base
passes outside the base of the dam.


 M  ve
>1.5 is desirable & <2
Fo 
M  ve
 Sliding Stability:- The sliding failure is resisted by the friction and
shearing strength of the concrete at upper levels and that
b/n foundation rock and concrete at the base.
 CONT.…
 Factor of safety against sliding, Fs, estimated using one of the two
definitions:
 Sliding factor, FSS ;
 Shear friction factor, FSF
 Safety against sliding (Fs) can be achieved by exceeding forces resisting
  FV
slidingFsthan
 forces tending to cause sliding.
  FH >1 is desirable & < 2
 μ= (0.65 – 0.75) depending on material used
 Shear friction factor(SSF) can be achieved by exceeding maximum shear
S    V loads.
resistance than sliding horizontal  Bq


SFF  S / H Where
 S= maximum shear resistance
 B=base width of dam
 q= average shear strength of the
 material at the horizontal section
 μ= coefficient of friction
 CONT.…
 Further if the cohesion force among soil particle is
considered S will be modified as: S  cAh   V tan 
 Then SFF  cAh  V tan 
H
Table 3‑2: Recommended shear friction factor, SFF (USBR 1987)

Load combination
Unusual
Location of sliding plane Normal Extreme
Dam concrete, base
interface 3.0 2.0 >1.0
Foundation rock 4.0 2.7 1.3
 Compression or Crushing
In order to calculate the normal stress at the base
Let be total horizontal force
 be total Vertical force
 be the resultant force acting at the base of
dam at eccentricity of from the center of base width b
or from toe. Which is given by
 CONT.…
 The normal stress at any point on the base will be
the sum of direct stress and bending stress.
 Direct stress is ;

 Bending stress is
 where and
 for
rectangular base.
 CONT.…
For extreme case at toe or heel y will be

then the total Normal stress will be

The normal stress distribution for a general case when e<b/6

the stress at toe and heel are comprehensive in which concrete
by its behavior can resist.


 CONT.….
 when eccentricity e = b/6 then
 Normal stress at the toe and

 Normal stress at the heel

Tension Crack
when eccentricity e >b/6 then (-ve)
 stress will be formed or tension Crack

will happen. Finally crack length will

develop
 CONT.…

. The crack length due to tension is calculated as;

Note
- No tension shouldn’t be developed under dam
- For No tension development e<b/6
- the resultant should lie within a middle third.
 CONT.…
 To determine the vertical stress at the base of the
dam, it is better to consider the following cases:
 Reservoir full;
 At toe (d/s edge) , Pn 
V 
1 
6e 

B  B 

 At heel (u/s edge), Pn 

 V 1  6e 
B  B 

 Reservoir empty;
 At toe (d/s edge) Pn 
V  6e 
1  
B  B 
 At heel (u/s edge), Pn 
 V 1  6e 
B  B 
 PRINCIPAL AND SHEAR STRESS
Principal and shear stress

 The vertical stresses determined from above are not the

maximum direct stresses. The maximum direct stress is

the major principal stress acting on the major principal
plane passing through the point.
 So consider an elementary triangular section either at
the heel or toe. Such that stress intensity is assumed to
be uniform
 CONT.…
• let be length of ,
P be intensity of water pressure and = principal stress of
plane AB = shear stress and = normal stress.
• The using Equilibrium, the sum of all vertical force =0

• When reservoir is full :-the maximum vertical stress occur at

toe with magnitude of
 CONT.…

 If there is no tail water

 Pn and P’ =0

 The allowable stress in any part of the dam should

not exceed 7Mpa.
 CONT.….
• WHEN RESERVOIR IS EMPTY :-the maximum vertical principal
stress occur at heel with magnitude of

• The maximum shear stress at the heel will be

 If there isu no
 tail
Pn *water
tan u
 Pn and P’ =0
 CONT.…
 Example-4: For the gravity dam shown on figure below, determine:
1. the factor of safety against sliding
2. the shear friction factor
3. the factor of safety against overturning
4. the maximum vertical stress, shear stress and normal stress at the toe
5. check whether there is tension
 Consider reservoir full condition and take only the weight of the dam and the
water pressure. Take μ= 0.70, γ material= 24KN/m3, γ water = 10KN/m3 and
q=1400KN/m2
CONTI...
CONTI...
CONTI..
CONT.…
 Exercise-2 The figure below shows concrete gravity
dam (non-over flow portion). By neglecting, the
earthquake effects, calculate:
1. the maximum vertical stresses at the heel and toe of the dam
2. the major principal stress at the toe
3. The intensity of shear stress on a horizontal plane near the toe.
[ASSIGNMENT ]
 ELEMENTARY PROFILE OF GRAVITY DAM
 Elementary Dam profile :- is a theoretical x-sectional
shape of dam subjected to primary loads. With zero top width
and no free board.
Elementary
profile

H
P P

R
W B/3
B A
wH
cwH
u

 Considering water pressure,W weight 0.5 * ( B * H )of

*  c dam and uplift
 Self weight of the dam:, action is at B/3 from the
heel. P  0 .5 *  w * H 2
 Water pressure: , U  0.5 * B * c *  w *acts
H at H/3 from the base
 Uplift pressure: , acts at B/3 from the heel
 CONT.…
 Base Width of Elementary Profile:- has to be checked against
no- tension and no-sliding when reservoir is full. Then the larger of
the two will be taken as a minimum width.
1. Bed width to resist Tension crack:- when the reservoir is full and
For no tension at the heel, R must pass through the middle third.
 *Taking summation of moment about the Heel, minimum width that
can resist tension crack can be determined
M  0
W ( B / 3)  U ( B / 3)  P( H / 3)  0  (W  U ) * ( B / 3)  P( H / 3)  0
 (0.5 * B * H * G *  w ) B / 3  (0.5 * c * B * H *  w ) * B / 3  (0.5 *  w * H 2 ) * H / 3
H
 B 2 (G  c)  H 2  B 
Gc
H
B
G 1
 CONT.…
2.Bed width to resist Sliding:-to resist sliding at least the summation
of all vertical and horizontal force should be equal
 V   H
 W  U   P
 [(0.5 * B * H * G *  w )  (0.5 * c * B * H *  w )]  (0.5 *  w * H 2 )
  * B * H *  G  c  H 2
H
B
 (G  c)
H
B
 (G  1)
LIMITING HEIGHT OF ELEMENTARY PROFILE
 The value of the principal stress should not exceed to the
allowable stress (For limiting case, σd = fa )
f a   w * H * (G  c  1)
fa
 H cr 
 w * (G  c  1)

fa If uplift is not considered


H cr 
 w * (G  1)
 If the dam height is less than H,then
cr it is said to be low gravity
dam and the provided B may be enough.
 If the dam height is greater than H, crthen it is said to be high
gravity dam. Hence the resultant may cause greater
comprehensive stress than allowable stress, so the base width has
to be increased.
Modification of Elementary profile
 Top Width
 b= 0.14H the larger of the will provided
 = road way consideration
 Free board
 Fb=wind setup (S) + 4/3 (hw)
 =1.5*(hw) the larger of the will
provided
 = 3-4%(H)
 =0.9 meter
 All forces should be considered
 since 3 loads are considered for elementary profile, all has to
 be taken into consideration for 7 types of loading conditions.
 Practical Profile Of Gravity Dam
 The weight of the concrete in the trapezium FEHG keeps the
resultant within the middle third for the reservoir empty condition.
 Finally, it should be checked to ensure that the dam is safe against
all mode of failure.
 Analysis Of Gravity Dam
 Gravity Method of Analysis :-
The dam is assumed to consist of a series of independent vertical
cantilevers of unit length and fixed at the base.
The stability of these cantilevers is checked at different levels against all
the possible modes of failure under worst loading conditions.
If the provided section doesn’t satisfy the required stability requirements,
it will be modified and checked again.
Generally the following step will adopted
1. Determine all the forces acting per unit length of the dam.
2. Determine the horizontal and vertical components of all forces.
3. Find the algebraic sum of all horizontal and vertical components.
4. Determine the moment of all the force components about toe (d/s
edge). Find the algebraic sum of the resisting ( ΣMR) and
overturning (ΣMo) moments. Also determine the net moment
(ΣM) about the toe. Thus, Σ M = Σ MR - Σ Mo
 CONT.…
 5. Determine the distance of the point where the resultant (R) strikes
the horizontal section or the base. = Σ M / Σ V

 6. Determine the eccentricity (e) of the resultant, e=0.5B-X. The
eccentricity is measured from the center of the dam and it is equal to
the distance b/n the center of the base and the point where the
resultant strikes the base. Generally, the eccentricity is considered
positive when it is on the right side (d/s side) of the center.
 7. Determine the vertical stress at the toe and heel of the dam.
Pn 
 V 1  6e 
B  B
 8. Calculate the principal stress and check whether it is within the
safe limits and also the stresses.
 9. Determine the factor of safety against sliding.
 10. Determine the factor of safety against overturning.
 11. Determine the tensile stresses if the eccentricity is greater than
B/6, and check whether they are within the limits.
 Strip method Analysis
 If the height of the dam is greater than to the critical dam height,
then the upper portion up to which the critical height can be
designed as one section as low gravity dam and the remaining height
can be divided in to a number of suitable strips and the stability of
each section is considered.
 DESIGN OF STRIPS

 Design of strip-I:-The total base width required at the bottom of

the first strip is given by:
 w .H 13   w2 .H 14 
B1  1  2 
fa  4 .
W 1 

 *The increase of base width required on the u/s side, at the

bottom of Strip-I (X1) is given by:
 w .S c . y1  .X
24
   B  B0
3.B02  B12  6. X 1 .( B0  B1 )  2.B0 .B1  w 1 ( H 0  H 1 ) * (2.B1  3. X 1 )  W0  1
12

 X1  0
 3 
 *The increase in width on the d/s side can be determined as (B1-
B0-X1).
 Design of strip-II:
 w .H 23   w2 .H 24 
B2  1  
fa  4.W22 

 w .S c . y 2  .X
24
   B  B1
3.B12  B22  6. X 2 .( B1  B2 )  2.B1 .B2  w 2 ( H 1  H 2 ) * ( 2.B2  3. X 2 )  W1  2
12

 X2  0
 3 
Construction of Gravity dam

The river should be diverted during period of construction to

keep the construction area dry.
Construction joint has to provided for the seek of avoiding
heat,, avoid cracking and leakage.
Contraction joint has to provided for the seek of thermal stress
relief w/c causes cracking.
Galleries has to be provided for inspection & maintenance
,access, drainage and installation of mechanical and electrical
equipment.
Temperature controlling mechanism like pre cooling (cooling
ingredients or using cold wtr)and post cooling (circulating
cooled water through pipes) should be adopted.
THE END