Front. Archit. Civ. Eng.

China 2007, 1(1): 12–33

DOI 10.1007/s11709-007-0002-6
REVIEW ARTICLE

ZHANG Chuhan

Challenges of high dam construction to computational

mechanics

© Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag 2007

Abstract The current situations and growing prospects 378x103 MW. However, the current developed capacity
of China’s hydro-power development and high dam construc- is only 22%, far lower than that of the United States,
tion are reviewed, giving emphasis to key issues for safety Japan, Canada and many other hydro-power rich European
evaluation of large dams and hydro-power plants, especially countries, as shown in Fig. 1 [1].
those associated with application of state-of-the-art computa-
tional mechanics. These include but are not limited to: stress
and stability analysis of dam foundations under external loads;
earthquake behavior of dam-foundation-reservoir systems,
mechanical properties of mass concrete for dams, high veloc-
ity flow and energy dissipation for high dams, scientific and
technical problems of hydro-power plants and underground
structures, and newly developed types of dam-Roll Compacted
Concrete (RCC) dams and Concrete Face Rock-fill (CFR)
dams. Some examples demonstrating successful utilizations
of computational mechanics in high dam engineering are
given, including seismic nonlinear analysis for arch dam
foundations, nonlinear fracture analysis of arch dams under Fig. 1 Hydropower potential and current production (1999)
reservoir loads, and failure analysis of arch dam-foundations.
As a green and renewable resource of energy, hydro-
To make more use of the computational mechanics in high
power development in China is a crucial strategy for
dam engineering, it is pointed out that much research includ-
supporting the rapid economic growth, while improving the
ing different computational methods, numerical models and
environmental condition is now becoming a serious problem
solution schemes, and verifications through experimental
tests and filed measurements is necessary in the future. partially due to coal power development. In the coming three
decades of the new century, twelve hydro-power bases
Keywords high dams, computational mechanics, stress, (Fig. 2), mainly in southwest China, including the upper
stability analysis, earthquake behavior, energy dissipation reaches of the Yangtze and Lanchang Rivers and their

1 Background remarks

1.1 Hydro-power development

China is one of the richest countries in the world in

hydro-power potential with an exploitable capacity of

Selected from Computational Mechanics, Proceedings of the Sixth

World Congress on Computational Mechanics in Conjunction with the
Second Asian-Pacific Congress on Computational Mechanics, Tsinghua
Univeristy Press & Springer, 2004, 154–166

ZHANG Chuhan (
)
Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University,
Beijing 100084, China
E-mail: zch-dhh@tsinghua.edu.cn Fig. 2 Twelve hydro-power bases in China

Fig. 3 Cascade development plan of Yalong river
branches (Jinsha, Yalong and Dadu rivers) are planned to be
developed with a total capacity of 220x103 MW, 60% of the
total hydro-power potential of the nation. As an example of
cascade development, Fig. 3 shows the development plan of
Yalong River. As the most developed regions are concentrated
in the east Yangtze Delta and south Pearl River coast,
where energy resources are in serious shortage, transmitting
hydro-electricity from the west to the east (and south) is an
important task in the years ahead.
1.2 Transbasin water transfer
China’s water resource in quantity ranks number six after
Brazil, Russia, Canada, the United States and Indonesia,
Fig. 4 Mean annual run-off in depth
13
with an average annual runoff of 2 800x109 m3. However,
the distributions in space and time season are extremely
uneven. As shown in Fig. 4, the runoff in depth varies from
2 000–3 000 mm in the south to 50-300 mm in north China.
With the rapid growth in economy, water shortage has
become a bottleneck factor in sustainable development in
economy. The Yellow River has been in seasonal water inter-
ception for years, and over pumping of ground water in north-
ern China has caused serious environmental problems. To
alleviate this problem, the central government has decided to
transfer water from Yangtze River Basin to north and north-
western China. As shown in Fig. 5, three main routes starting
from the upstream to downstream reaches of the Yangtze
River to Yellow River and north China are planned and start
construction with a total water quantity of 40x109 m3. The
total cost is around 300 billion RMB. The project is scheduled
for completion in forty years [2].
1.3 Building high dams for power development and water
transfer
To accomplish the goals of hydro-power development and
transbasin water transfer, construction of a series of high
dams up to 250–300 m in height is being planned or started.
Meanwhile, building large underground structures either
for installation of power generators or for conveying water
14

Fig. 5 Routes of south-to-north water transfer project

from southwest to north China is necessary. These high dam
projects are also multipurpose, such as for flood control and
river navigation. As shown in Fig. 2, most of these projects
are located in southwest China and possess the following
natural conditions (Table 1): (1) Complicated geological
conditions need to be carefully treated to provide satisfactory
foundations and abutments for carrying tens of million tons of
thrust loads from the reservoir; (2) Seismically active envi-
ronments and high seismicity due to regional tectonic faults
(Fig. 6) in the regions require safety evaluation and analysis
of earthquake behavior of high dams. Strengthening measures
for high dams to resist design earthquakes (0.2–0.32 g) are
necessary in general; (3) Extraordinarily large flood overflow
through the dams and tunnels causes a series of problem
of energy dissipation. Taking the Xiluodu arch dam as an
example, the design flood of 50,000 m3/s must be considered
for overflow through spillways and orifices inside the 278
high dam and four abutment tunnels, with a total energy
of 120 000 MW being dissipated downstream; (4) A large
underground power house with 30 mx70 mx300 m in size
must be excavated to accommodate the 2 000–14 000 MW
power generators and auxiliary facilities. Usually, rather high
in-situ stresses within the heterogeneous and anisotropic rock
media need be considered for its stability of sliding and defor-
mation of the surrounding rock due to excavation unloading;
the above-mentioned engineering difficulties must be solved
to ensure safety and economy of the projects. Great challeng-
es of these record-high dam constructions to dam engineers
and scientists provide a wide area for development and
application of modern computational mechanics, and experi-
mental mechanics, as well as experience in dam design and
construction.

Table 1 Characteristic parameters of main dams in China

Dam River Dam height/m Reservoir/(108 m3) Installation/MW Design flood/(m3 · s−1) Design PGAa)/g

Longyangxia Yellow R. 178 247 1 280 0.237

Ertan Yalong R. 240 58 3 300 23 900 0.20
Laxiwa Yellow R. 250 11 5 600 6 000 0.20
Xiaowan Lancang R. 292 151 4 200 20 600 0.308
Xiluodu Jinsha R. 273 140 14 400 50 000 0.321
Jinping-I Yalong R. 305 78 3 300 6 900 0.20
Goupitan Wu R. 233 65 3 000 27 500
Baihetan Jinsha R. 275 180 12 000 40 000 0.325

PGA = peak ground acceleration.

a)

Fig. 6 PGA zonation map of China
2 Building more bridges between
computational mechanics and large dam
engineering
2.1 Introduction
Nowadays, three main types of high dams are considered to
be the most promising dam structures in the world, namely:
double curvature arch dam, rolled compacted concrete dam
(RCC dam) and concrete facing rock-fill dam (CFR dam).
Within the coming ten years, the world record-height arch
dams-Xiaowan, 292 m high, Jinping, 305 m high and RCC
dam-Longtan, 216 m high and CFR dam-shuibuya, 234 m
high, will appear in southwest China. For economical design
and safety evaluation of these large dams and hydro-power
stations, engineering mechanics is facing a great challenge
for giving right answers to practical problems encountered.
Continuous, homogeneous and isotropic media have to be
extended to consider discontinuous, heterogeneous and
anisotropic one; in many cases material and geometric non-
linearities or elasto-plasticity, damage and fracture mechanics
need to be considered. For considering randomness of mate-
rial parameters and loading input, stochastic and reliability
analysis may be necessary; multiphase media interaction
requires the dam-reservoir-foundation-sediment complex
15
system to be taken into account; to study the damage and
rupture process of dam and foundation material, macro-
microscopic mechanics may be applied. Following the rapid
development of digital computers and numerical algorithms,
finite element, finite difference, boundary element, infinite
element, discrete element etc. are widely used in modeling
dam-foundation-reservoir system under static (reservoir
water, temperature, seepage etc.), dynamic loadings and flood
overflow conditions.
2.2 Key issues for safety evaluation of large dams and
power plants
2.2.1 Stress and stability of dam-foundations under normal
external loads
The methods for arch dam-foundation stability have experi-
enced a long history starting from the arch-cantilever trial
load method for dams and rigid body limit equilibrium for
foundations to finite element analysis (elasticity or elasto-
plasticity) (Fig. 7). Currently, geological defections including
faults, seams and joints in rock abutments can be considered
in FE analysis and experimental tests (Fig. 8). Yet design
criteria and specification in many countries still remain at
the semi-empirical-theoretical stages. For instance, the
16

Fig. 7 Design and research methods for dams

Fig. 8 Experimental model and FE modeling of Jinping dam and foundation

arch-cantilever trial load method (USBR 1948) is still
preferred by engineers as a stress criterion for arch dams [3];
the gravity method of strength of materials is a typical tool
for analysis of gravity dams [4]. Rigid body limit equilibrium
is commonly used for checking stability of dam foundation
and abutments [5]. Although these traditional methods gener-
ally provide a lower bound of gross safety factors, they fail
to give realistic structural behaviors under working condi-
tions. Therefore, building more bridges of modern computa-
tional numerical methods such as elasto-plasticity method,
damage and fracture analysis (including strain-based gradient
method) and effective discontinuous procedures to dam
engineering is imperative.
The following topics are outlined for further study: (1)
Simulation of structural behavior of complete process starting
from concrete pouring to normal operation of dams; (2) Mode-
ling of elasto-plasticity deformation and stability conditions
for dam-foundation systems; (3) Stability against wedge
sliding of arch dam-foundation;(4) Stability against upward
sliding of arch dam-abutments; (5) Coupling of seepage
flow with stress field in the foundation and effects on dam-
abutment stability; (6) Thermal stresses due to internal hydra-
tion heat and environmental temperatures; (7) Fracture
prediction at the upstream heel, singularity, mesh sensitivity
and fracture process of arch dams; (8) Theory and methods
of shape optimization for arch dams [6]; (9) Randomness of

material parameters and reliability analysis for dams; (10)
Coupling of continuum and discontinuum media for simula-
tion of rock mass of dam foundation; (11) Isotropic and aniso-
tropic behavior, damage localization and strain-gradient
models for concrete and jointed rocks; (12) Back analysis
methods for rock parameters; (13) Discontinuous mechanics
for rupture analysis: simulation of failure process of
dam-foundation system.
2.2.2 Earthquake behavior of dam-foundation-reservoir
system
The importance of seismic safety evaluation of existing
high-dams and dams to be built is well recognized due to
the catastrophic consequences of dam failure during strong
earthquakes. The prototype performance of concrete dams to
earthquakes was discussed by Hansen and Roehm [16].
Among the earthquake damage to high dams, the following
accidents may be noted: severe damage of the Lower San
Fernando Dam and construction joint opening in the Pacoima
arch dam in the 1971 San Fernando earthquake [17]; large-
scale slope slide in the Miyun Baihe main dam (China) near
Beijing during the 1976 Tangshan earthquake [18]; severe
cracking of the Hsingfengjiang Dam and Koyna Dam due
to reservoir-triggered earthquakes in 1962 and 1967 respec-
tively [19,20]; a rupture and movement of eight meters in
the Shih-Kang concrete dam spillway during the Chi-Chi
earthquake in 1999 (Taiwan, Fig. 9). Many other cracking
and damage examples during strong earthquakes were also
reported from Japan (1995, 2000), Iran (1990), Mexico (1985)
etc.
Fig. 9 Rupture of the Shih-Kang concrete dam during the
Chi-Chi earthquake
Although more precise knowledge and sophisticated
numerical tools for earthquake analysis of large dams appear
to be available to date, realistic earthquake behavior and
damage mechanisms of large dams are still far from states
of complete clarity [21,22]. State of the practice is that the
design maximum credible earthquake (MCE) is represented
by the peak ground acceleration (PGA) and corresponding
response spectrum while the safety check for dams is
controlled by the maximum principal tensile stresses using
17
linear elastic approach. However, it is reported that a peak
acceleration of over 2 g at the crest of the Pacoima arch dam
during the 1994 Northridge earthquake and of 2.1 g on the
crest of the Kasho gravity dam during 2000 Tottori earthquake
(Japan) were recorded but no cracking and damage were
observed [23]. According to the dynamic analysis, the tensile
stresses of the dam would have far exceeded the strength
of the dam concrete. These discrepancies require more
research on earthquake behavior of material and structural
nonlinearity, input mechanism of seismic loadings, dam-
foundation-reservoir-sediment interactions and abutment
behavior and stability during earthquakes. An approximate
modeling of earthquake source-propagation media-dam-
canyon response system would be an interesting research
to understand the earthquake input mechanism for dam-
canyons. In addition, shaking table tests and field measure-
ments are important for verification of computational model-
ing (Fig. 10).Following are some main problems needing
further study: (1) Earthquake input mechanisms especially
non-uniform free-field motions along the arch dam abut-
ments; (2) Dam-reservoir-foundation-sediment interactions
including linear and nonlinear scopes; (3) Nonlinear response
of contraction joint opening in arch dams during strong
earthquakes; (4) Dynamic fracture analysis and cracking
development in concrete dams during strong earthquakes; (5)
Dynamic stability of dam abutments and foundations perma-
nent deformation, sliding and failure modeling; (6) Method-
ology of strengthening and control measures for dams to
improve seismic resistance-artificial peripheral and upstream
joints, reinforcements, dampers and post-tensioned cables
etc.; (7) Earthquake response measurement and dynamic
filed test for safety monitoring and verification of numerical
models; (8) Physical model test techniques for nonlinear and
interaction modeling of dam-foundation-reservoir systems.
Fig. 10 Shaking table tests of Ertan arch dam
2.2.3 Mechanical properties of mass concrete for dams
The brittle material concrete exhibits significant variations
in constitutive behavior depending on loading rate and
surrounding constraint conditions. The critical portion of
18
stresses of dam concrete are located at the upstream heel and
near abutment, where 3-D stress fields and water saturation
are much different from the uniaxial cylindrical tests at labo-
ratories [24,25]. Fig. 11 shows a triaxial test of mass concrete
from Three Gorges dam. The behaviors of concrete saturated
with high pressurized water at the upstream heel of dams
are more complicated than that of normal conditions. Yet few
if any correlating studies has been done on this topic. As
found by J. Raphael [26–28], Mavier and Ross, the dynamic
strengths (compressive and tensile) of concrete in a rapid
strain rate is substantially gher than about 30% above static
counterparts. However care has to be taken to consider differ-
ent initial stress conditions and stress time histories because
they are strongly related to different damage accumulations
[29,30]. Special types of concrete with improved characters
(high strength and toughness, low hydration heat) deserve
much research [31]. Topics needing further study in this
respect might include the following: (1) Numerical simula-
tion of mechanical properties of mass concrete in meso-scale
and experimental verification (Fig. 12); (2) Strength and
constitutive relation of full-graded aggregate concrete
including softening behavior; (3) Strength and fracture
toughness of concrete under multiaxial stress conditions; (4)
Strength and fracture toughness of concrete under saturated
and porous pressurized conditions; (5) Strength and fracture
toughness of concrete under inclement environmental condi-
tions; (6) Creep behavior of mass concrete; (7) Strain rate
effects on strength and fracture toughness; (8) Aging behavior
of mass concrete; (9) Special mass concrete (with fiber,
silicon powder, MgO, etc.) and admixtures.
Fig. 12 Fracture process of a three-point bending beam [32]
(a) Experimental test; (b) FE analysis

Fig. 11 Triaxial test of mass concrete

Fig. 13 Ertan arch dam overflowing

2.2.4 High-velocity flow and energy dissipation for high
dams
Generally, high water-head, large flood discharge and
narrow downstream riverbed are the main conditions of flood
discharge in China’s high dam construction, such as Ertan
dam condition Fig. 13. Huge amounts of energy dissipation
at the downstream and high velocity flow (>50 m/s) through
orifices of arch dams and spillway tunnels cause a series
of problems such as rock erosion, cavitation damage
[33,34], flow induced-vibration [35], and stormy rainfall and
atomization as far as dam safety is concerned (Fig. 14) [36].
These problems are related to two-phase turbulent flow
and its interaction with boundary walls, structures and rock
mass, and yet most solutions depend on experimental tests,
empirical formula and engineering judgment [37,38].
Although a rapid progress in turbulence of computational
fluid mechanics is evident in recent decades, applications to

Fig. 14 High-velocity flow and energy dissipation for high dams
high velocity flow and energy dissipation for high dams are
still relatively rare. This is mainly due to the complexity of the
problem, which not only relates to turbulence flow itself but
also to the topography and geotechnical and structural condi-
tions as well. The following topics are listed for further inves-
tigation: (1) Mechanisms and numerical modeling of erosion,
cavitations, fluctuation, aeration and atomization of high ve-
locity flow for large dams—mechanical structures of free,
open channel turbulent flow; (2) Impact loading characteris-
tics of high velocity flow, scour resistance of jointed rock and
protection; (3) Frequency spectrum and special-time coher-
ence and velocity and pressure fluctuation; (4) High velocity
flow induced structural (dams and gates) vibration; (5) Cavi-
tation-initiation, development or collapse process of cavita-
tion, mechanism of cavitation damage to concrete and metals,
measures to prevent cavitation (convex control and aeration);
(6) Surge wave propagation and overtopping due to reservoir
landslides; (7) Transient flow simulation for dam failure.
2.2.5 Scientific and technical problems of hydro-power
plants and underground structures
In developing hydro-power in China’s southwest and north-
west regions, underground power plants and surge tanks are
the most preferable type of structure because large flood over-
flow through the dam and narrow canyon conditions make it
difficult to provide sufficient space for the layout of down-
stream river power-plants. Meanwhile, the installation of
large capacity power plants requires a large cavern in width
and height to be excavated. Taking the Xiluodu power plants
as an example, it has total capacity of 22x650 MW located
inside the left and right banks of the dam, each of which has
an underground chamber of 30 mx70 mx300 m (Fig. 15)
[39]. A series of rock mechanics and rock engineering
problems related to underground tunnels and caverns needs
to be solved. In this aspect, a review on current status and
development in rock mechanics and engineering can be found
19
in Sun and Wang [40,41]. Recently, rock damage and fracture
mechanics (isotropic and anisotropic) appear to be a promis-
ing tool to describe the complicated behavior of jointed
rock in underground structures [42–44]. A recent review was
given by Yang [45]. Another developing trend in modeling
jointed rock is the use of discontinuum mechanics, i.e.
discrete element method [14], Discontinuous deformation
analysis and Manifold method [46,47]. Another important
feature in hydro-power development in China is the necessity
of building many large pump-storage power stations in east
and south China, where thermal power prevails with extreme-
ly non-uniform in load curves, and the hump modulation
relies on pump-storage reversible power generation [48]. The
following research topics are summarized. (1) Jointed rock
stability of underground power house chambers including
construction sequence and support; (2) Excavation unloading
and numerical prediction of long (250 km) and deep-lying
(>1000 m) tunnel for transbasin water transfer engineering;
(3) Excavation unloading and numerical prediction of tunnels
under soft rock environment; (4) Creep behavior of jointed
rock mass surrounding the large chambers; (5) In-situ stress-
es, rock burst and deformation analysis; (6) Anisotropic
damage-fracture modeling for rock; (7) Coupling model of
rock with seepage and temperature; (8) Analysis of steel-lined
concrete-rock combined system under high hydro-pressures;
(9) Flow-induce vibration of pump storage power stations
and machinery; (10) Structural and foundation stability of
upper storage pools; (11) Transient process and control of
fluid-machinery system of pump-storage station.
2.2.6 Newly developed types of dam–roll compacted
concrete dams (RCC dam) and concrete face rock-fill dam
(CFR dam)
In recent decades, the construction technique in dam engi-
neering has been revolutionized due to the rapid development
of RCC and CFR dams [49–53]. By making the continuous
20

Fig. 15 Simulation of the Xiluodu underground plant

(a) Model test; (b) Numerical simulation (FLAC)

construction of a concrete dam and flexible concrete face an CFR Dams (1) triaxial strength and constitutive behavior
impervious diaphragm for rock-fill dams, the goal of more of compacted rockfill; (2) deformation (non-uniform and
economical and faster construction of large dams has been creep) behavior and stability analysis of CFR dams with
realized. Nowadays, 232 RCC dams have been constructed especially attention to the concrete slabs; (3) anisotropic
with the maximum height of 199 m (Mile No.1 gravity)
and of 130 m (RCC arch dam, Shapai, China); The Longtan
RCC dam under construction has a maximum height of 216 m
(China); 20 CFR dams higher than 100 m have been built
with the maximum height of 234 m (Shuibuya, China) (Fig. 16
and 17). Both RCC and CFR dams are still in a rapid develop-
ment stage world-wide in terms of numbers and heights
of dams. The mechanical behaviors of RCC dams are quite
similar to the traditional concrete dams (including gravity and
arch types) except that the continuous construction without
contraction joints requires a special treatment for crack pre-
vention. In addition, the shear strength and permeability of
RCC dams may have some differences due to the layered
construction procedure which affects stability factor against Fig. 16 Roll compacted concrete arch dam (Shapai, H = 130 m)
sliding. For CFR dams, the important factor in terms of dam
safety is the stress-strain relationship and shear strength of
the rock-fill which will have prominent effects on deforma-
tion of dams and cracking potentials of concrete slabs. In
modeling of stress-strain constitutive relationship, Duncan
and Chang, Domaschuk and Valliappan, Naylor, Gao, Roscoe
and Burland, Lade, Shen have made contributions to the
topic, either with nonlinear or elasto-plasticity assumptions.
Following are study topics for RCC and CFR dams [54–60].
RCC Dams: (1) Numerical simulation of layered
construction process of RCC dams including temperature,
self weight effects; (2) Shear resistance and permeability
behavior of compacted layer interface and their effects on Fig. 17 Concrete face rock-fill dam (Shuibuya, H = 234 m)
dam stability; (3) Anisotropic characteristics of RCC dams
due to layer compacted construction techniques and effects behavior of rock-fill body and effects on deformations of
on stress fields; (4) RCC arch dams and prevention of CFR; (4) earthquake analysis and dynamic residual deforma-
cracking. tion of CFR dams; (5) nonlinear modeling for interaction

behavior of concrete slabs-filter and transition zone-rockfill
bodies; (6) construction technique of CFR dams with deep
overburden.
3 Some research examples completed by
the national laboratory of high dams and
large structures at Tsinghua
The national high dam and large structure laboratory at
Tsinghua was established in 1985. Three engineering divi-
sions including, the High Dam and Hydraulic Structure
Engineering, Hydropower Engineering and geotechnical
engineering, are attached to the laboratory. Incorporated
with the nation’s development of water resources and hydro-
power, the laboratory conducted a comprehensive research on
key issues of high dams and hydropower plants, emphasizing
the numerical modeling and physical model tests on the
subjects. Following are some examples of using modern
computational mechanics in safety evaluation of high dams.
3.1 Seismic response of arch dams considering canyon
radiation damping and joint opening
Herein, the effects of arch dam-canyon interaction and non-
linear response of dams due to contraction joint opening and
reinforcements are examined using an FE-BE-IBE coupling
procedure. Figure 18 is a complete dam-canyon-reservoir
system.
Fig. 18 Complete coupled system of dam-canyon-reservoir
Usually, the dam is constructed with individual cantilever
blocks separated by finally grouted construction joints
which are likely to reopen during strong ground motions [61].
This nonlinearity will cause a significant redistribution of
stresses between arch and cantilever components raising
concerns about the integrity and safety of the dam [62–64].
For simulation of these nonlinearities together with radiation
damping due to infinite canyon, presented different models
[65,66]. Herein, finite elements are used for discretization
of the dam and reservoir. Substructure of the canyon is
21
discretized into boundary elements and infinite boundary
elements for considering the radiation damping of the infinite
canyon. Frequency-dependent impedance functions are first
obtained for all degrees of freedom on the dam canyon inter-
face. By using a curve fitting, these impedance functions are
transformed into a mass-spring-dashpot system which is
frequency independent. Finally, these discrete parameters
together with the linear substructure of cantilever bodies are
condensed into the boundaries of nonlinear substructure—a
set of construction joint elements. The equilibrium iteration
during a time step is conducted only for the degree-of-
freedom for the nonlinear joint substructure. The free field
earthquake input is used in the procedure. The dynamic
equations of motion are as follows [65]
M dc ⎤ ⎧U

d ⎫ ⎡Cdd Cdc ⎤ ⎧U
d ⎫
⎡ M dd
⎢M ⎥ ⎨ ⎬ + ⎢ ⎥⎨ ⎬
⎣ cd M cc + M cc ⎦ ⎩U

c ⎭ ⎣ Ccd Ccc +Ccc ⎦ ⎩U
c ⎭
⎡ K dd K dc ⎤ ⎧U d ⎫ ⎧ 0 ⎫
+⎢ ⎥ ⎨ ⎬= ⎨


⎬ (1)
⎣ K cd K cc + K cc ⎦ ⎩U c ⎭ ⎩ M cc uc +Ccc uc + K cc uc ⎭
where M,C, and K letters denote mass, damping and stiffness
matrices, respectively, all u quantities denote time-dependent
total-displacement vectors, subscript d denotes the number
of DOF in the dam, excluding its c DOF located at the
—
dam-canyon interface, and a bar placed above a letter, i.e. M ,
— —
C , and K are the frequency independent mass, dashpot
and spring matrices assembled from element parameters;
u–c, u–· c and u–··c are seismic free field motions acting on the
dam-canyon interface.
Equation (1) has been expressed in the time domain.
Thus, the nonlinearities of the dam due to contraction joint
opening can be taken into account by changing the third term
of the left hand side of Eq. (1) with restoring forces which are
nonlinear functions of U· and U of the nonlinear substructure.
The substructure solution scheme is illustrated in Fig. 19
[67–69].
A 3-D nonlinear joint element is used for modeling the
contraction joints. A joint reinforcement model was also
proposed to analyze the strengthening measure of joint rein-
forcement. Figure 20 shows constitutive relations for joints
and reinforcement respectively.
First, the dam is assumed to be linear elastic without con-
sidering joint opening. Only the effects of radiation damping
of infinite canyon on dam response are investigated. This
problem was studied by Zhang, Chopra and Tan, Dominguez
and Maeso et al. [70–72]. Herein, several high arch dams
listed in Table 1 were examined. A comparison of the fre-
quency response functions of the Laxiwa arch dam (250 m
high) between the interaction model and the traditional mass-
less model is shown in Fig. 21. Further, the nonlinearity is
considered by modeling 35 joints for the Xiaowan arch
dam (293 m high, Fig. 22). Infinite canyon and Westergarrd
reservoir are included. A time history with peak ground
22

Fig. 19 The Substructure Solution Scheme of the Coupled System

Fig. 20 Constitutive relations for joints and reinforcements

(a) Without reinforcements; (b) With reinforcements

Fig. 21 Comparison of response functions between massless and infinite mass foundations
(a) Stream; (b) Cross-stream; (c) Vertical
 23

Fig. 22 Discretization of Xiaowan arch dam with 35 contraction joints

acceleration (PGA) of the design earthquake of 0.308 g in

two horizontal directions is used as the input. The results are
summarized in Figs. 23−26, and the following conclusions
can be drawn: (1) Significant reduction in dam response in the
entire frequency range for interaction model is observed. A
reduction of 20%−30% in down response may be considered
in safety evaluation; (2) Significant joint opening during the
design earthquake results in a release of tensile stresses in
arch component but will increase cantilever stresses signifi-
cantly. Joint reinforcements can effectively reduced the
joint opening (about 25%−30%) resulting in improving the
dam integrity, although it has only minor influence on stress
distribution. Fig. 25 Orcement layout of the Xiaowan arch dam

Fig. 26 Velopes of joint opening of the Xiaowan arch dam with

Fig. 23 Comparison of maximum joint openings between the
reinforcements
reinforcement-free and reinforcement models

3.2 Fracture analysis of arch dams

The usual design loads for arch dam include concrete

Fig. 24 Comparison of the middle joint opening histories
between the reinforcement-free and reinforcement models
selfweight, temperature and hydrostatic loads. As a kind of
quasi-brittle material in fracture analysis, concrete exhibits a
strain-softening behavior after the formation of micro-cracks
under tension. For crack analysis of 3-D structures such as
arch dams, both linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) and
nonlinear fracture mechanics (NLFM) may be considered.
The application of LEFM to arch dam analysis was accom-
plished by Linsbauer et al. boundary element method (BEM)
to investigate the fracture process of the Kölnbrein arch
dam in Austria [73–76]. The NLFM includes the fictitious
24
crack model and the blunt crack band model [77,78], both ⎡m (1- v ) mv mv ⎤
taking the effects of strain softening into account by different ⎢ ⎥
assumptions. Herein, the blunt crack band model proposed by
D (m )=
E ⎢
m
( 1- mv 2) v (1+mv ) ⎥
1 − v − 2mv 2 ⎢⎢ (1+v ) ⎥⎥ (3)
v
Bazant et al. [78–80] is used including rotating crack proce- (1+v )
dure (RCM) [81–83]. For continuously accommodating the
orientation of the crack, RCM considers the rotation of the
⎢
⎢ mv v (1+mv ) ( )
1- mv 2 ⎥
⎥
axes of material orthotropy due to the change of principal ⎢⎣ (1+v ) (1+v ) ⎥⎦
strain axes in strain softening stage, it was recognized that the
fracture mechanics criterion of constant energy dissipation in in which E and v are respectively Young’s modulus and
the process zone during crack propagation must be main- Poisson’s ratio; m denotes the softening factor which can be
tained to achieve the objectivity of the results avoiding the obtained from Fig. 18
effects of mesh sensitivity. The tensile stress-strain relation-
ship is shown in Fig. 27. Where ft denotes the tensile strength; Et ⎛ ef ⎞
Gf is the fracture energy required to create a crack per unit m= 1- ⎟ (4)
cross section; h represents the crack band width depending on E ⎜⎝ e⎠
the selected element size; in order to ensure a certain energy
and a solution procedure with iteration is adopted to imple-
dissipation in the process zone, for a given element size h the
ment the above constitutive model by finite element analysis.
total strain ef has to be adjusted to satisfy the formula shown
in Fig. 27. First, for verification of the accuracy and applicability of
the model, a mixed-mode cracking process in a single-edge
notched shear beam is examined by the RCM. The problem
was studied by other researchers by numerical modeling
[84−86] or experiments [87]. Figure 28 shows the specimen
geometry, 3-D finite element discretization and loading
conditions. The material parameters are also given. From the
mesh discretization the crack band width can be calculated.
Figure 29 shows the computational results of load-crack
Mouth Sliding Displacement relationship which reasonably
falls within the experimental scattering range. The final crack
profile and predicted deformation are shown in Fig. 30, which
demonstrates good agreement with the experiments.
As an engineering application, the upstream cracking
Fig. 27 Linear softening curve of Kölnbrein arch dam in Austria (Fig. 31) is examined by
the above fracture mechanics model. The Kölnbrein dam is
situated in a U-shaped valley with a canyon width/height
The stress-strain relationship for strain-softening range of ration of 3.1 and bottom thickness/height ratio of 0.18. It is a
RCM can be described as thin double curvature arch dam. The Kölnbrein dam experi-
S = D(m)e (2) enced a serious cracking during its reservoir filling in 1978.
When the water level exceeded 1860 m, the water leakage
where Si and ei (i = 1,2,3) are respectively the principal from drainage holes increased suddenly, surging to 200 L/s
stresses and strains, in which direction 1 is the normal direc- when reservoir elevation reached 1890 m. The uplift water
tion of the plane; D(m) is the material property matrix for the pressure at the base soared to 100% of the reservoir head
rotating local coordinate system and has the form at this time. After emptying and extensive exploration by

Fig. 28 Meshes and parameters of the single-edge notched shear beam


Fig. 29 Load-CMSD curves for the single-edge notched shear
beam
core drilling, a steeply inclined cracking system was found,
day-lighting on the upstream face. This cracking system also
penetrated the dam foundation, breaking the grout curtain as
seen in Fig. 31. For more details concerning the cracking
behavior of the Kölnbrein dam, readers may refer to [88,89].
Previous studies for the Kölnbrein dam cracking were
conducted by [73,74,76]. Herein, the nonlinear fracture
mechanics model with RCM is employed. The parameters of
the Kölnbrein dam concrete material are listed in Table 2.
The finite element discretization is shown in Fig. 32, in which
the elements at the region of the upstream heel are much
densified to accommodate the crack development. Totally,
26 913 elements are used for discretization of the dam-
foundation system. External loads including self-weight
and static reservoir pressures are imposed by incremental
Fig. 30 Final crack pattern and predicted deformation by the 3-D RCM
(a) Final crack pattern (shaded elements); (b) Predicted deformation (300 times enlarged)
25
procedure within two sequential stages. Figures 33−35 show
the maximum strain distribution at the upstream heel and the
crack profiles and lateral extent. The findings from the study
can be summarized as follows
(1) 3-D nonlinear fracture mechanics model-Blunt Crack
Band Model combined with the finite element procedure
can predict the cracking process of an arch dam under self-
weight and hydro-static pressures. In this model, the strain
softening behavior of concrete can be taken into account.
The implementation of the Rotating Crack Model (RCM)
provides a reasonable scheme for obtaining objective results
with avoidance of mesh sensitivity.
(2) The case study of the cracking analysis of the Köln-
brein arch dam shows good agreement with the prototype
field measurements. Both LEFM and NLFM achieve similar
crack profiles (Fig. 34). The important experience, from the
author’s view, is that for high double curvature arch dam
with a thickness-height ratioh0.20 and canyon width-height
ratioi3.0, a safety check for cracking at the upstream heel
of the dam must be conducted. In this aspect, the author’s
group has completed safety evaluations of cracking for
China’s several high arch dams including Ertan, Xiaowan
and Xiluodu etc., comparing with the cracking behavior of
Kölnbrein dam by using the nonlinear fracture model and
same mesh size of FE discretization [90]. Figure 36 shows
the comparison of tensile stresses at the crack front with the
crack development along the dam base. According to the
Ertan field measurements of deformations at the upstream
heel-rock foundation interface and the corresponding uplift
pressure distribution during the highest reservoir elevation,
no crack has been found from the recorded data. Conserva-
tively, we assume the tensile stresses at the upstream of Ertan
dam are just at the critical stage of cracking, it is evident that
comparing with the Ertan and Xiaowan dams, Kölnbrein
appeared to have exceeded the critical conditions of cracking
considering the same model and same FE mesh are used for
all three dams.
26

Fig. 31 Cracking systems in Kölnbrein dam

(a) Upstream View; (b) Cross-Section

Table 2 Parameters of concrete in Kölnbrein arch dam

r/(kg · m−3) E/MPa ν Gf /(N · m−1) ft /MPa

2400 2.0x10 4
0.18 200 2.0/3.0

Fig. 33 Crack profile of Kölnbrein with 80% upstream water

Fig. 32 Finite element discretization of the dam-rock dystem pressures

Fig. 34 Crack profile of Kölnbrein at the crown cantilever heel

(a) By 3-D RCM; (b) By LEFM

Fig. 35 Distribution of maximum principal strain component under different hydrostatic pressuresby 3-D RCM, ft = 2.0 MPa
(unit: x10−3).
(a) 70% Hydrostatic pressure; (b) 100% Hydrostatic pressure
Fig. 36 Maximum principal stress at the tip vs. ratio of cracking
depth to the dam bottom thickness
3.3 Failure analysis of arch dam-foundations by rigid
body-spring element method (RBSE)
From lessons of concrete dam failure in the last century,
it was concluded that most failure cases were due to the
collapse of dam-foundations, such as the cases of the Malpas-
set arch dam in France and the Meihua arch dam in China
[91−94]. However, the numerical simulation of the mecha-
nism and process of dam failure has not been fully investi-
gated. Current design practice in rock engineering commonly
relies on limit equilibrium of rigid body for safety analysis
of dam abutments. Finite element method provides stress
and deformation fields considering either elasto-plasticity
or damage-fracture mechanism for rock-joint system.
However, neither the limit equilibrium nor the FEM could
predict failure process of entire dam-foundation systems.
With the assumption of rigid blocks and rigid contact between
blocks, the limit equilibrium method of rigid body never-
theless provided the basis for the development of different
discontinuous discrete element procedure in rock mechanics,
27
such as distinct element method and discontinuous deforma-
tion analysis [14,46]. Thus, a unified model for analyzing the
failure process of a jointed rock system starting from small
deformation to entirely collapse becomes necessary. Herein,
based on the concept of the distinct element method proposed
by Cundall, a rigid body-spring element method is developed
for failure simulation of arch dam-foundation systems. As
shown in Fig. 37, the dam-foundation system is divided into
blocks by contact joints. It is assumed that normal and shear
springs with stiffness, kn and ks respectively, represent the
force-displacement relationship of the joints. The latter are
assumed to exhibit sustainable tension in the normal direction
and follow Coulomb’s friction law for shear, i.e.
Fn = knun, if unhFt /kn (5)
Fn = 0, if un>Ft /kn (6)
Fs = ksus, if |Fs|hf |Fn|+cA (7)
·
Fs = sign( us)(f|Fn|+cA), if |Fs|>f |Fn|+cA (8)
where Fn and Fs are, respectively, the normal and tangential
components of the contact forces; un and us are the corre-
sponding components of the relative joint displacement; f, c
are friction and cohesion coefficients of the joint material;
Ft is the tensile strength of the spring which simulates the
concrete material or joints; A denotes the area of the contact
boundary. It is reasonable to assume that the subsequent
tensile strength of the spring will drop down to zero after the
first crack of spring when un>Ft /kn.
The determination of the spring stiffnesses kn and ks
depends on the elastic modulus and the size of the block
such that the deformation of the block is approximately
equal to the elastic system (stiffness equivalence). In addi-
tion, the shear and tensile strengths of the rock joints and
the concrete material must be simulated approximately by
satisfying Eqs. (5)−(8).
For verification of the accuracy of the RBSE method to
model the elastic deformation and stresses of the system, a
28
Fig. 37 RBSE system
Fig. 38 Cantilever beam under uniform loads
cantilever beam under uniform loads as shown in Fig. 38
is analyzed, in which the following parameters are assumed
for the beam: elastic modulus E = 2.4e10N/m2; Poisson’s
ratio v = 0.2; the specific gravity r = 0; the normal stiffness:
kn = l1l2E/4l3, ks = kn/2(1+v), where l1, l2 and l3 are, respec-
tively, the width, height and length of the block elements.
The beam is under the action of a uniform load of 1.0e4 N/m2.
Three types of element size, i.e. coarse (3 mx3 m), interme-
dia (1 mx1 m) and fine (0.5 mx0.5 m) meshes are assumed.
Figure 39 shows the continuous convergence of the displace-
ment toward the finite element solution as the block size
of discretization becomes small. The comparison of stress
field also shows that a satisfactory approximation is achieved
except the stress concentration at the fixed end predicted by
the FEM but not reflected by the RBSE method.
After the establishment of the RBSE method by achieving
the stiffness and strength equivalence to the finite element
procedure, the failure simulations of the Malpasset arch dam
and Meihua arch dam are conducted. Herein, only the results
of the former are presented for space limitation.
The Malpasset arch dam was located on the Reyran River,
a branch of Argens River in France. The dam height was
66 m with a canyon width/height ratio of 3.3 and bottom
thickness/height ratio of 0.1. It was a rather wide canyon
and extraordinarily thin arch dam. The rock formation at
the dam site was composed of Tanneron gneiss with a series
of unfavorable tectonic faults and schistosities on the left
abutment. The simulation of the geological conditions for
the left bank is shown in Fig. 40. It is evident that the left
abutment thrust due to the reservoir load and the uplift pres-
sure facilitates the vulnerable sliding of the rock wedge along
the fault surface. Whether this was the case in the actual situ-
ation or some other failure mechanism might have happened
such as upward sliding near the dam-abutment interface
(shallow layer sliding) due to the relatively flat abutment with
schistosities and rock joints is arguable. The latter presump-
tion is related to the fact that the dam canyon is relatively
wide and the thickness of the dam is extraordinarily thin. For
simulation of the failure process of the Malpasset Dam, the
RBSE method is employed with parameters of the dam
concrete and foundation rock being simulated the field data
from literature [90]. Thus the equivalent stiffness and strength
of the concrete and rock elements kn, ks, Ft, Fs can be obtained.
The simulation includes two cases, namely: deep wedge
sliding and upward shallow sliding, respectively, with and
without the uplift pressures.
Letting f1 represent the friction coefficient (shear strength)
of the dam-abutment interface and the neighboring joints and
fissures in the dihedron, and f2 represent the strength of the
faults, the initial values of f1 and f2 are assumed to be 1.0. The
tensile strength of the dam concrete is assumed to be 2.0MPa
and the shear strength f to be 1.0, both keeping unchanged
 29

Fig. 39 Comparison of displacements and stresses between RBSE and FEM

(a) Convergence of displacements with different element size; (b) Comparison of stresses between RBSE and FEM

Fig. 40 Left abutment sliding mechanism of Malpasset

during the whole process until rupture. For Case 1 of deep
wedge sliding, successive reduction of the strength of faults f2
until rupture while retaining f1 unchanged provides the safety
factor for case 1. For Case 2 of upward shallow sliding, both
f1 and f2 are reduced successively. The results are summarized
in Fig. 41. Conclusions may be drawn from the results:
(1) For Case 1—Deep wedge sliding along faults. From
the comparison of displacement of block No. 1 (see Fig. 41)
with different values of f2, the dam shows a divergent dis-
placement and starts failure at f2 = 0.3 with the condition of
full uplift pressures; However, if the uplift were not taken into
account, the dam would not collapse even that f2 = 0;
(2) For Case 2—Shallow upward sliding along interface.
The dam starts collapsing at f1 = f2 = 0.6, regardless of con-
sidering or without considering the uplift pressures. Thus, the
Case 2, i.e. the shallow upward sliding seems to occur earlier
than in Case 1 if the real conditions of geological deficiencies
satisfy the Case 2 situation.
(3) Similar contours of displacement (Fig. 42) field and
collapse pattern (Fig. 43) for both cases are observed: the
dam starts rotation toward down stream around the right
bank axis. In addition, a non-uniform upward displacement
field with maximum values occurring at the left abutment is
vividly seen, indicating a similar failure mechanism of left
abutment for both cases.
(4) Figure 44 shows the stability zoning of the Malpasset
dam collapse based on the shear strength along the dam-
abutment interface and the tensile strength of the dam
concrete.
The case study of the Malpasset Dam demonstrates the
applicability of the proposed RBSE method for evaluation of
the failure process of dam-foundation systems.
30

Fig. 41 Displacement histories of Malpasset dam

Fig. 42 Contours of displacement field with f2 = 0.3 considering uplift pressure for Case 1 at time = 6.25 s

Fig. 43 Collapse pattern with f2 = 0.3 considering uplift pressure for Case 1
Fig. 44 Stability and failure zoning of the Malpasset dam
4 Concluding remarks
(1) China’s hydro-power development with flood control
and other multiple purposes steadily pushes forward high
dam construction that is broad in scale. For safety evaluation
of a series of 300 m level high dams and power plants, it
requires engineers’ experiences, and experimental tests as
well as numerical tools. Therefore, building more advanced
and practical bridges between computational mechanics and
high dam engineering is of great significance.
(2) Geological and geotechnical conditions at sites,
surrounding earthquake environment, huge flood discharge
and high velocity overflow through structures and orifices,
and bearing capacity of materials for structure and foundation
are the crucial factors for structural safety. Most imperative
research needed may be as follows: mechanical behavior and
field parameters of geological and geotechnical foundations
and materials, computational rock and soil mechanics, earth-
quake input mechanism for arch dam-canyons, nonlinear
dynamics for dam structures, reservoir-structure interactions,
simulation of high velocity flow and energy dissipation, com-
putational fracture and damage mechanics for concrete and
rock, failure modeling of dam-foundation-reservoir system
and experimental mechanics and prototype measurements for
verifications.
(3) The finite element method is still the most powerful
tool in numerical modeling of high dams, in addition, espe-
cially involving nonlinearities and multiphase coupling the
boundary element method for simulation of infinite medium
31
such as reservoir and rock canyon, discrete element method
for jointed rock stability analysis, finite difference procedure
for high velocity flow simulation have also proven to be
effective and efficient. Further research on computational
methods, numerical models and solution schemes would def-
initely enhance the further understanding of such complicated
problems in high dam engineering.
(4) This paper reflects the author’s views and research
experience in dam engineering related to numerical analysis
of high dams using computational mechanics. The references
listed are also very limited. Many important aspects and con-
tributions have not been included for lack of information and
space limitation. The author appreciates the understanding of
those whose important contributions to the topics have not
been referenced.
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