High‐speed flow erosion test study on roller compacted concrete dam during construction

Abstract

PurposeA new roller compacted concrete dam of Fengman hydropower station was determined to be built in the toe of the old dam which had been identified as a dangerous dam. The new dam during construction would be impacted by the high‐speed flow discharged from the old dam. This is an important problem met for the first time in China, which would affect the whole project construction. The purpose of this paper is to describe a series of erosion experiments of the new dam material.Design/methodology/approachA kind of high‐speed flow erosion test apparatus was developed for erosion experiment of the new dam material. The maximum jet velocity was up to 40 m/s and the section area of the nozzle was 25 cm2. In the process of experiments, the equipment showed its good performance. Erosive wear tests of two types of materials used in the new dam, a roller compacted concrete and a distorted concrete with four kinds of ages were carried out with the flow velocity in the range of 30‐35 m/s.FindingsErosion parameters and erosion laws of the two types of concretes with different ages were obtained, and a general relationship had been found between erosion rate and flow velocity: with velocity exponent between 3.33 and 3.93. It was also concluded that the erosion resistance of the distorted concrete was better than that of the roller compacted concrete and the mechanics properties of the concretes of over 14 days age was influenced slightly by water impacted.Originality/valueThe test results would play a practical technique guide role for the safety of this project during construction in the flood season.