INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF LONGITUDINAL GALLERY ON DYNAMICAL RESPONSE OF GRAVITY CONCRETE DAMS USING FEM

Abstract

This research aimed to consider the necessity of studying different dimensions of existing galleries in gravity concreted dams regarding design limitations and the dam sustainability provision. In recent years, structural optimization has been studied extensively with various considerations. Concrete volume in concrete dams is higher than in other concrete dams. Therefore, if the concrete volume of these dams can be reduced without reducing the dam safety and stability, the costs of constructing such dams could be significantly reduced. For this purpose, in this paper, the Pine Flat Gravity Dam has been selected, its numerical model has been constructed and stimulated under the Taft earthquake. There are three types of small, medium, and large size galleries in different positions. The dam reservoir and foundation in the current study have been modeled, and the foundation has been assumed to have no mass. Then the results have been examined. The innovation of this research is in identifying the most optimal shape and position of the gallery in the body of the weighted concrete dam, which is based on stress and strain responses. It can be concluded that while the medium gallery was in the middle of the dam, the optimum condition for reducing concrete was achieved by maintaining the dam stability.