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International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 47 (2010) 299306

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International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijrmms

Experimental study on a geo-mechanical model of a high arch dam


Wen-ping Fei , Lin Zhang, Ru Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, College of Water Resources and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, China

a r t i c l e in fo
Article history: Received 7 April 2009 Received in revised form 1 November 2009 Accepted 11 December 2009 Available online 4 January 2010 Keywords: High arch dam Stability safety factor Geo-mechanical model Temperature analogous material Comprehensive method

abstract
This paper presents the complete experimental study on the Geo-Mechanical Model of Jinping high arch dam to observe the deformation and study the stability of the dam abutment and foundations of the Jinping rst stage hydropower project. The model considers various factors inuencing the stability of dam abutment and foundation during the test, which includes overloading and strength-decreasing of weak structural planes in the rock mass of the dam foundation. A temperature-analogue material is employed to simulate the decreasing strength of the weak structural planes. The temperature-analogue material and model testing technique are developed for the rst time. Secondly, the comprehensive method that considers both overloading and strength-decreasing is applied to the model successfully. Deformation characteristics, failure patterns and mechanisms of the dam abutment and foundation are achieved. The safety evaluation based on the experimental model indicates that the whole stability safety factor of the dam abutment and foundation is 4.75.0. & 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction As is well known, for a high arch dam, the stresses inside the dam and its foundations are very large, which increases the possibility of dam failure. For large hydropower projects built on complex geological structures, the stability of the dam foundation and abutment is very important. Usually, there are many unfavorable geological structures in the dam site, and so to ensure the safe operation of project, the whole stability of the high dam and its foundation should be carefully considered. Geological model testing and numerical simulations are usually the main research methods for solving this kind of geo-mechanical problem [13]. Model testing is one of the most effective and intuitive methods to solve these types of problems. Geo-mechanical model testing makes the system into limit equilibrium state near failure by varying the load or material strengths based on limit equilibrium theory. The geological mechanical model has a good intuition of the failure process of arch dam abutment and foundations. The complexity and uncertainty of geological conditions, geomechanical and geo-technical engineering problems, however, will induce a great challenge to the model testing techniques. Many researchers have contributed to the study of geo-technical models and have achieved great results [49].

Corresponding author. Tel.: + 86 28 85465866; fax: + 86 28 85405604.

E-mail address: wpfei@scu.edu.cn (W.-p. Fei). 1365-1609/$ - see front matter & 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijrmms.2009.12.005

The geo-mechanical model rst appeared in the 1960s, when high dam constructions were developing rapidly, the rstly being in Italy [4], The experts at the Institute of Structure Model Experiment and Simulation (ISMES) successfully conducted a number of geo-mechanical model experiments, such as Italian Vajont arch dam, with the height of 216.6 m. Using geomechanical model tests and obtaining the minimum safety factor 2, for stability on ssures and faults in the foundation of the overall model and a greater deformation in its arch crown, therefore, the measures of grouting and anchor reinforcement in abutments were decided to be implemented, according to model test results. The Itaipu gravity dam, also, with the dam height of 196 m, was studied by geo-mechanical model test at ISMES to dene the weakest position in the combined system of the concrete dam and its foundations and to identify the potential failure mechanism. The experiment provided a reliable proof for the improvement of design and reinforcement treatment. Since the 1970s, geo-mechanical models have been widely used, which has expanded the research eld of the structural model tests. For example, Oliveira experimentally obtained the safety factor of an arch dam in Portugal by keeping constant the material properties, but increasing gradually the relevant loads applied to the reduced scale model [5]. Chinese engineers also carried out some research works in this area [6], in the middle and late of 1970s, presented a report about material test by geo-mechanical model and carried out 2D and 3D geo-mechanical model test of discharge sluice of Gezhouba Erjiang project. In addition, Refs. [79] have carried out research work in this area successively. Three-dimensional whole geomechanical model tests have been carried out for many high arch

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dams, the stability against sliding of abutment rock mass, capacity of overloading, failure mechanism and the actual effectiveness of foundation reinforcement measures have been studied. In the past, geo-mechanical model tests were implemented only by the overloading method, because of the difculty of decreasing the strengths of materials, especially using both overloading and strength-decreasing methods in the same model. Therefore, for a long time, very little attention has been paid to the strength-decreasing method because of lacking of appropriate model materials, whose strength could be changed according to requirements during the testing. Recently, we have successfully developed a new temperatureanalogue material by composing traditional materials, macromolecular materials and cementing materials together in some proportion. At the same time, a temperature varying system is set up, by which macromolecular materials have been melted gradually, and then the strength of composite materials have been decreased gradually. Under the assumption of constant mechanical properties of rock, the method of overloading increases the loads of dam upstream until the failure of dam abutment and foundation. In normal operation, strength-decreasing method could consider the safety reserve capacity of rock mass, and decreases the mechanical strength of the rock until the failure of dam abutment and foundation. Comprehensive method, as proposed in this paper, by combining the overloading and strength-decreasing methods, considers not only the possibility of sudden oods, but also the inuence of rock and weak structures on the stability of the project for long-term operation. The Jinping First Stage Hydropower Station is an important cascading hydropower unit located on Yalong River in Sichuan Province of China. The project (see Figs. 1 and 2) has the abilities of power generation, silt arrest, and ood control. The project will build a 305 m concrete hyperbolic arch dam which is the highest in the world. The geological structures at the dam site are very complex and the height of the slope is about 1000 m. There are different weak structural planes in rock mass of the dam foundation such as faults, lamprophyre dikes, interlayer compressed zones, deep-seated fractures, which are disadvantageous to the stability of the dam foundation and abutment.

For this project, we set up the temperature analogous materials for rock mass, fault intercalations, weak structure planes and discontinuous joints. For the rst time, the comprehensive method is applied in the same model.

2. The similarity theory and temperature-analogue material 2.1. Similarity theory Physical models must satisfy a series of similarity requirements in terms of geometry, physical and mechanical properties, boundary conditions and initial states. According to elastoplasticity theory and dimensional analysis, these similarity requirements can be deduced from force-equilibrium equations, geometry equations, Hookes law and boundary conditions [10]. Geo-mechanical model test belongs to nonlinear destruction testing, therefore the following four similarity requirements for destruction test should be met: (1) geometric similarity requirement: geometric shape and main geological structure of prototype and model should meet geometric similarity requirement; (2) constitutive relationship similarity requirement: deformation modulus, relationship between stress and strain, compressive and tensile strength of prototype and model should meet similarity requirement; (3) shear-friction resisting strength on geological structure plane similarity requirement: Shear-friction resisting strength on main geological structure planes in dam foundation and abutment of prototype and model (f0 and c0 ) should meet the similarity requirement; and (4) loading similarity requirement: load condition, such as water pressure, gravity and sand pressure of prototype and model should meet similarity requirement. Generally, the rst item is a necessary condition, the second and third items are determined on the conditions of similarity, and the fourth item is a boundary condition of similarity. Three conditions are all indispensable. According to above conditions, supposing C

Fig. 1. Developed prole along the dam axis.

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Fig. 2. Typical geological plan (at the elevation 1590 m).

Table 1 The design of the similarity model. Items Law of similarity Designs CE = Cg CL Ce = 1,Cf = 1, Cm = 1 CE = C s = C c = C t CF = Cg CL3 = CE CL2 If Cg = 1, CE = CL, CF = CL3 300 Principles 1. Geometrical similarity 2. Similarity of mechanical and deformation characteristic 3. Similarity of shear strength parameter of rock masses, weak intercalations and faults 4. Similarity of load and boundary conditions 1. To meet the precision demand of the test 2. To consider modeling workload and economic effects synthetically 1. Undistorted edge-restraint condition 2. Propitious to dispose system of loading, measuration, and so on 1. To emphasize the major element, and to ignore the minor element properly 2. To consider the worst-case factor 3. To consider fracture properties Model materials To mix barite powder, gypsum, adhesives, additive according to certain To meet the demand of the similarity theory proportion

Geometric proportion Simulation context Geological structures

1200 m 1200 m 850 m (L W H)

Left bank: fault f5, lamprophyre dike X Right bank: fault f13, f14, steep dip joint, and green schist lens

is the proportion of physical quantity between prototype and model, by similarity theory, the following requirements should be met in destruction model test: CE Cg CL Cm 1; CE 1; Cf 1 1

Cs CE Ct CC
3 2 CF Cg CL CE CL

3 4

when Cg 1, then 2 CE CL 5

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3 CF CL

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4 3.5
( 10-2) MPa
m

where CE, Cg, CL, Cs, Cc and CF, respectively, represent the similarity constants for deformation modulus, bulk density, geometry, stress, cohesive strength and concentrated force proportion, and Cm, Ce and Cf, respectively, represent the similarity constants for Poissons ratio, strain and friction coefcient proportion. Bearing in mind that geo-mechanical model test is a destructive experiment; the model was designed as mentioned in Table 1, according to the similarity theory and the condition of the project synthetically. According to the scale of project and accuracy requirements of test, the selected model geometry ratio is CL = 300, bulk density ratio is Cg = 1, deformation modulus ratio is CE =300 and strain ratio Ce = 1. The 3D model test ume clearance is 4 m 4 m 2.83 m (L W H) which is equivalent to the prototype scale of project: 1200 m 1200 m 850 m (L W H). The simulation domain is large enough to meet the requirement of destructive test and can fully represent the actual situation of the project. 2.2. Temperature-analogue material During this test, a comprehensive method is adopted by combing the overloading method and the strength-decreasing method, in which a kind of model temperature-analogue material is developed to accomplish the gradually decreasing process of shear resistant strength of model material. Because of the complex geological structure at the dam site, such as the developing faults, interlayer compression strips, joint ssures,

3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 10 20 30 40 T (C) 50 60 70 80

Fig. 5. tmT curve of temperature analogous material of green schist lens.

7 6 ( 10-2) MPa 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 10 20 30 40 T (C) 50 60 70 80


Fig. 6. Loading system on the upstream surface of dam.

deep-seated cracks and other structure planes, the stability of the abutment of arch dam is negatively inuenced. The main geological structure affecting the stability of right-bank abutment include: faults such as f13 and f14, green schist lens imbedded in
24 marble rock such as T2 3Z , steep dipping ssure with a strike of nearly SN direction and so on. The main geological structure affecting the stability of left-bank abutment include: faults such as f5, f8, f2 and F1, lamprophyre dike such as X, squeezed band 24 between marble rock layers such as T2 3Z and slope-forward joint ssure and so on. According to the characteristics of geological structure, this test takes into account of properly decreasing the shear resisting strength of the main faults and lamprophyre dike X. Before the test a large number of material tests are carried out initially, from which the variation relation curve between the shear strength of materials and temperature T is obtained. The relation curve tm T of temperature analogous material is shown in Figs. 35, respectively, for fault, lamprophyre dike X and green schist lens.

Fig. 3. tmT curve of temperature analogous material of fault.

6 5 ( 10-2) MPa 4 3 2 1 0 0 10 20 30 40 T (C) 50 60 70 80

3. Loads on the model and loading system Considering test task and conditions synthetically, water load and sand load are determined to be simulated in the test. According to the similarity theory, similarity of load between the prototype and model must be satised. The loads are applied by using jacking apparatus distributed in different elevations of the upstream surface of the dam, which are forced by an oil-pressured instrument. Load-spreading boards are applied to eliminate the stress concentration (as shown in Fig. 6).

Fig. 4. tmT curve of temperature analogous material of lamprophyre dike X.

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4. The measuring system of the model The measuring system includes surface displacement measurations and inner deformation measurations. In this test, the latter give priority to the former which include dam surface displacement measurations, rock mass displacement measurements and intercalation measurements of interior relative displacement. Following the principle that it is not only able to consider the dams comprehensive distributing characteristics of the displacement and deformation, but also to monitor local positions, 63 surface displacement measuring points and 100 inner deformation measuring points are installed.

5. The test method and procedure A geo-mechanical model test is a rather destructive test, which mainly includes three kinds: overloading method, strengthdecreasing method and comprehensive method by combining overloading and strength-decreasing method. Assumption of the overloading method is that rock mechanical parameters of the abutment and the foundation are constant and by gradually increasing upstream water load, till the destruction and destabilization of foundation, the resultant factor of safety is overloading safety factor. Strength-decreasing considers that the rock mass of abutment and foundation itself has a proper strength capacity to know the accurate strength capacity so that you can gradually reduce the mechanical parameters of rock mass until the destruction and destabilization of the foundation. The safety factor thus obtained is a strength-decreasing factor. This method reects the inuence on the strength index of weak structural planes by soaking of reservoir water and leakage in long running of the rock mass. The overloading and strength-decreasing are adopted in the comprehensive model, this method takes into account not only unexpected ood projects but also the probability of mechanical parameter reductions of rock mass and weak structural planes due to water action in the long-term project operation. As the mechanical properties of traditional model materials cannot be modied, geo-mechanical model destructive testing is usually completed by the overloading method, because it is very difcult to achieve this by the strength-decreasing method. In the past model tests, different membrane, paper, lubricating oil or chemical coating were usually used to simulate the mechanical deformation characteristics of the structural planes such as weak intercalation in foundation rock mass, but the mechanical parameters of rock mass and intercalation cannot be modied during the test. If we want to change the mechanical parameters, we must set up a new model by using modied mechanical parameters, thus combining the test results of several models to describe the variation process of mechanical parameters, which is impractical and uneconomical. To modify mechanical parameters of rock or weak structure plane in the same model, the most important problem to be solved is a breakthrough on the model material, which is to develop a new model material to gradually change model material strength of the rock mass and weak structural planes. Our research groups staff started from the model material and has made much progress during the years of continuous exploration in experimental techniques, putting forward a new method by adopting temperature analogous material to simulate strength-decreasing properties. Research on temperature analogous material is based on several intercrossing disciplines, which is done by combining the macromolecular material with the traditional model material, which is done by adding the macromolecular material and cementing material into model material

and at the same time, setting up the system temperature alteration. During the test, the reduction of mechanical parameters of the material is done by heating up and melting down the macromolecular material, thus the comprehensive method of testing by combining overloading and strength-decreasing method is accomplished in the same model. The comprehensive method has been successfully applied in some engineering practice, such as the Xiluodu arch dam [11], Shapai arch dam [12,13], Tongtou arch dam [14] and Baise gravity dam. The method of combination of overloading and strengthdecreasing is applied in this test. At rst by decreasing the shear strength of weak structure in the dam base and abutment, secondly overloading the dam upstream face by the water pressure continuously until destabilization and wreck happened to the dam base and abutment entirely, strength-decreasing is accomplished through temperature analogous material. Considering the stress difference of embankment and dam abutment during the operation, and the inuence of oodwater and rock strength of dam abutment and base, the test is divided into three steps, which are described as follows: Step 1: Preloading dam body with minor loads, lifting pressure to the level of normal load to measure and then overloading to 20% above the normal load to measure, to simulate ood condition according to the statistic results of engineering cases in China. Step 2: Maintaining the loading level and rock mass deadweight of the former step, warming up rock mass in the dam abutment and foundation by 10 stages, and measuring the designated point. At this step the shear strength is reduced at the half of design value. Step 3: Maintaining the temperature level and rock mass deadweight of the former step and continuing to overload on the dam upstream to measure till the destabilization and wreck happens.

6. Results and analysis of the tests Test results include the displacement developing process of embankment surface, abutment and base of dam; the interior relative displacement developing process of weak intercalations; the deformation developing process of typical sites of dam surface; and the failure pattern and process of rock mass. The test procedure is as follows: the rst is strengthdecreasing test, the subsequent is overloading test until the instability destruction of abutment. The detailed test procedure is as follows: rstly, to pre-press the model, and then to load with the normal load level, and on the basis of which, to execute the strength-decreasing test, that is to reduce about 30 percent shear resisting strength of abutment rock faults such as f5, f2, f13, and f14,

5.0
56*

42* 74*

28*

4.0 Kp 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 -50

66*

-20

10

40 p (nm)

70

100

130

Fig. 7. dpKp curve of typical measuring points along the river.

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66#
5 4 3 2 1 0

65# 95#

displacement, the distribution regularity agrees with the routine results. Under the normal condition the radial deformation is basically symmetric, and the deformation direction is toward downstream. During the strength-decreasing stage, the displacement of the dam body is small, however, in overloading stage with the increase of overloading multiple the deformations of left abutment increases obviously and ultimately a phenomenon happens that displacement of left abutment is greater than that of right one. It indicates that at the same time of dam body translation toward downstream, clockwise rotary movement happens on the dam body, which is conformed with the characteristics of great difference of deformation and destruction zone between left bank and right bank. 6.2. The surface displacement of abutment and resisting body

Kp

80

160 240 (10-1 mm)

320

400

Fig. 8. DdKp curves of typical measuring points in fault f5.

The overall distribution rule of surface displacement of abutment and resisting body dp is as follows: the displacement of left bank is larger than that of right bank. The displacement on the middle-upper part is larger than that of lower part. In general, the displacement along the river is toward downstream, and the displacement across the river is toward streambed. The largest displacement of right bank appears in the transverse Section 5, and largest displacement of left bank appears in the transverse Section 1, the second is in the transverse Section 5, and in other sections the displacement is very small, which indicates that the deformation tendency is conformed with the geological tectonic characteristics of both banks. 6.3. The displacement of fault, lamprophyre dike and weak tectonic zone The general distribution rules of relative displacement of fault, lamprophyre dike X, squeezing zone g, deep ssure SL and green schist lens in both abutments and resisting body Dd are as follows: the maximum value of Dd is in transverse section V near to abutment, followed by Dd in transverse sections II1 and I, and the minimum value is in transverse section III far away from abutment, which indicates the displacement direction is along the tectonic zone. In general, Dd of left bank is greater than that of right bank. On the left bank, Dd in fault f5 fault is greatest, followed by Dd in fault f2 and lamprophyre dike X, and Dd in interlayer squeezing zone g, fault F1, deep ssure SL is smaller. In elevation, Dd in the middle part is greater than that on the upper part, which proves that the effect of reinforcing treatment by concrete backer on the left abutment is very obvious. The upper Dd of fault f14, f13 on the right bank is larger, nearly equating to Dd of green schist lens. Therefore, the fault f5 of left abutment, lamprophyre dike X beside the river, faults f2 and f13, f14 of right abutment, the green schist lens, steep dip joint with SN strike, have a great impact on the stability of the abutment. 6.4. Strain distribution characteristic of the dam body Tensile and compression strain of dam downstream is coincident with convention, and the measurement point at all the elevation of arch abutment is mainly in compression state, especially, the arch-toward and beam-toward pressure strain on 1670 m elevation is very large, which is due to the geological condition of lower part of the left abutment, especially fault f5, lamprophyre dike X, interlayer squeezing zone g. According to the relative curve of strain and overloading multiple on the overloading stage, when the Kp is 3.84.5, process curves at all measuring points have a obvious break, which is similar with the process curve of displacement. It should be noted that, due to the limitation of material characteristic of dam, the stress of dam model cannot be converted to that of dam prototype.

Fig. 9. The whole geo-mechanical model.

lamprophyre dike such as X by heating up the model materials, furthermore to implement the overloading test until instability destruction of the abutment. Through the test, the following relation curves are obtained: dpKp (between surface displacement and overloading multiple) curve about radial or tangential displacement and overloading multiple, curve about strain and overloading multiple at every measuring point on the typical elevation of dam downstream; dpKp curve about river-transverse or between riverforward displacement and overloading multiple at the measuring point on two abutments and resisting body (as shown in Fig. 7); DdKp (between inner deformation and overloading multiple) curve about relative displacement and strain and overloading multiple at the measuring point on the structure zone of abutment and foundation (as shown in Fig. 8). At the same time, the destructive process of abutment and resisting body, and destructive form of the whole model are obtained. The photo of whole geo-mechanical model test is shown in Fig. 9.

6.1. The distribution regularity of the dam displacement The distribution characteristic of the dam downstream surface displacement dp is that displacement of the arch crown is rather large, displacement of the upper arch crown is larger than that of the lower part. The radial displacement is larger than tangential

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nearly same strike as the deep dip joint with SN strike; especially in the steep outcrop of green schist lens, there are several cracks along the layer, which connect to ssures with SN strike. There is an obvious destruction tendency of shear sliding toward downstream. Thus it can be seen that fault f13, f14, steep dip joint with SN strike, and green schist lens on the right bank, have a great impact on the stability of abutment (see Fig. 11).

7. Conclusions and suggestions This test aims at the complex geological structural conditions in the foundation of the high arch dam of the Jinping First Stage Hydropower Station, by using temperature-analogue material and state of the art technology of test simulation, while considering not only the overloading on arch dam upstream but also the inuence of strength softening of the fault and weak structural planes in both abutments of the dam. Adopting comprehensive method by combining overloading and strength-decreasing methods, the whole stability of arch dam abutment and foundation is studied, which can be concluded as follows: (1) According to the comprehensive analysis on test results obtained, the strength-decreasing coefcient is found K1 = 1.3, overloading coefcient K2 =3.63.8. According to the similarity theory [15], the comprehensive safety factor of abutment stability is Kc = K1K2 =4.75.0. This meets the requirements of the whole stability of the dam abutment and foundations, while, not considering the inuence of seepage pressure and seismic loads. (2) The impact degrees on stability by the faults, lamprophyre dikes and weak structure zones in both abutments and resisting body are not the same. For example, on the left dam abutment, fault f5, lamprophyre dike X beside the river, and fault f2 have a greater impact on the stability of abutment; on the right dam abutment fault f13, f14, the green schist lens, and SN directional steep dip joint have a greater impact on the stability of abutment. (3) The destruction zone of Left Bank extends along the river from arch abutment top of downstream to around the transverse prole VI, the total length is about 330 m which is slightly greater than the height of the dam. The destruction zone of Right Bank along the river extends from the arch abutment top of downstream to around the transverse prole I. The total crack length is about 150 m, nearly half of the dam height. The smeared crack pattern is resulted from the complex foundation conditions, especially the strike of faults and joints. Therefore, reinforcing treatment must be implemented in the range of left dam abutment to transverse prole VI, and right dam abutment to transverse prole I. At the same time, drainage hole should be constructed for the whole stability of both abutments and resisting body. (4) Reinforcing treatment has a large effect on the stability of both abutments, i.e. concrete reinforcement choke plugs settle on the elevation at 16651710 m of the downstream of right arch abutment, however, it does not crack in the nal destruction stages, which indicates the obvious reinforcement effect. (5) The emphasis of this research is on the stability of abutment, but test result shows that the overall design of the dam structure is reasonable. Because of the complex geological conditions of left abutment, deformation of the middle-upper part of left abutment is lack of coordination, it is necessary to strengthen further treatment to left abutment. The relative displacement of tectonic zone under the foundation is rather small, and the displacement curve has no obvious inection points and sharp increasing trend.

Fig. 10. Failure pattern of left abutment.

Fig. 11. Failure pattern of right abutment.

6.5. Failure patterns and features The failure pattern and feature of left bank is: fault f5 extends along the river from arch abutment top of downstream to around the transverse prole VI, the total length is about 330 m; the lamprophyre dike X outside the fault f5 cracks from the elevation of 18851710 m; the rock of arch abutment cracks from the top to the elevation 1960 m, and the upstream crack is very obvious and extends to the bottom of dam; the fault f2 in the middle-lower part, interlayer squeezing zone g and rock mass around arch abutment from the elevation 16501750 m is seriously damaged. Due to the reinforcement treatment by using concrete backer between the elevation 1750 and 1885 m, this part of rock mass around abutment is slightly damaged, which shows that left abutment reinforcement treatment has an obvious effect, but it is worth noting that in the part of upstream arch abutment below the elevation 1750 m, there are several horizontal cracks due to the dislocation effect of interlayer squeezing zone g. If the concrete backer extents more deeply and becomes wider, the damage can be relieved. Because the fault F1 and deep ssures SL are far away from arch abutment, the stability of the abutment is hardly inuenced. The damage extent and degree of left bank is more serious than that of right bank, which is mainly due to the complex geological structure condition of left bank (see Fig. 10). The failure pattern and feature of right bank is: fault f13 along the river cracks from the arch abutment top to the elevation 1940 m, and the total crack length is about 150 m; f14 cracks from arch abutment downstream to the extension length of about 135 m; the rock mass from arch abutment downstream to transverse prole I, between the elevation 1670 and 1885 m, is seriously damaged, several cracks can be found, which have a

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(6) By the comprehensive method proposed in this paper, strength-decreasing is aimed to simulate the softening of discontinuities due to groundwater and long-term operation, and overloading is aimed to simulate the ood load case. Nevertheless, seismic load, uplift load, and water load on the riverbed are neglected. Also, gravity scale effect and construction process are not considered.

Acknowledgments The work is supported by the China National Natural Science Fund (CSNF) under nos. 50879050 and 50620130440, joint support from CNSF and Yalongjiang Development under no. 50639100, international cooperation program under no. 2007DFB60100. The authors wish to offer their gratitude and regards to everyone who has been a part and support to this project in all means. References
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