Hydrodynamic pressures on sloping dams during earthquakes. Part 1. Momentum method

Abstract

Von Kármán's momentum-balance method is adopted to investigate the earthquake forces on a rigid dam with an inclined upstream face of constant slope. The distribution of the hydrodynamic pressure along the upstream face is determined. It is found that the maximum hydrodynamic pressure occurs at the base of the dam for any inclination angle between 0 and 90°. Explicit analytical formulae for evaluating the total horizontal, vertical and normal loads are presented and a useful approximate rule for practical engineers is given.