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Reinforcement Analysis of Toe Blocks and Anchor Cables at the Xiluodu Super-High Arch Dam

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Abstract

High stress concentrations near an arch dam–foundation interface may cause cracking and failure, particularly in super-high arch dams. Appropriate reinforcement measures are usually needed at the dam toe to increase the shear strength and bearing capacity of the rock mass foundation. In this paper, the criteria and procedure for reinforcement design of dam toe are first given, as priority issues in the overall safety assessment of super-high arch dams. A complete reinforcement analysis method covering the calculation of reinforcement force, effect evaluation and monitoring validation is proposed. With the Xiluodu super-high arch dam as an example, the reinforcement analysis under the numerical simulation and physical model tests performed are described in detail. The results show that the reinforcement measures adopted, such as the toe block and pre-stressed anchor cables, contribute to decrease the local high stresses at the dam toe, as well as increase the cracking initiation factor and the overall safety factor of the dam–foundation system. The reinforcement force loss of anchor cables during the subsequent construction stage has a limited effect on the dam performance. In terms of improving the stability at dam toe, the reinforcement of anchor cables is suggested to be implemented as early as possible. The reinforced dam is finally verified by field monitoring during the operation period. No anomalies in deformation, stress and seepage response near the dam are identified, and the arch dam is shown to perform as desired.

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Abbreviations

P 0 :

Normal water pressure

K 1 :

The dam safety factor against initiation of cracking

K 2 :

The onset of structural nonlinear behaviour safety factor

K 3 :

The maximum loading safety factor of the dam–foundation system

k i :

Overloading coefficient

\({\sigma _i}'\) :

Stress field at each overloading case ki

\(F_{x}^{0},\;F_{y}^{0},\;F_{z}^{0}\) :

Initial unbalanced force along the direction of x, y and z axes

\(\Delta {F_x},\;\Delta {F_y},\;\Delta {F_z}\) :

Incremental unbalanced force along the direction of x, y and z axes

\({F_x},\;{F_y},\;{F_z}\) :

Unbalanced force along the direction of x, y and z axes

n :

Number of nodes in the calculated area

\(\Delta {Q_{ix}},\;\Delta {Q_{iy}},\;\Delta {Q_{iz}}\) :

Unbalanced force along the direction of x, y and z axes for node i

\(\Delta P\) :

Loss of pre-tension

\(P\) :

Pre-tension

\(N\) :

Deviation rate of anchor hole

\(K\) :

Axial stiffness of anchor cable

\(A\) :

Cross-sectional area of anchor cable

\(E\) :

Young’s modulus of anchor cable

\(L\) :

Length of anchor cable

\(\Delta {F_a}\) :

Incremental cable force due to creep deformation

\(\Delta {u_a}\) :

Creep deformation of anchor cable

V p :

Longitudinal wave velocity

k v :

Integrity coefficient

T m :

Average value of dam temperature decrease along the river direction

T d :

Temperature decrease at downstream surface

m :

Linear expansion coefficient of dam concrete

H :

Dam height in prototype

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Acknowledgements

The authors are very grateful to the Chengdu Engineering Corporation Limited, PowerChina and Three Gorges Corporation for supporting this study. The authors are also very grateful to Prof. Giovanni Barla and reviewers for their critical and meticulous recommendations which helped the author to improve this paper significantly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Jie Shi, Peng Lin & Yuande Zhou

  2. Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Pengcheng Wei

  3. Chengdu Engineering Corporation Limited, PowerChina, Chengdu, 610072, China

    Renkun Wang

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  1. Jie Shi
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  2. Peng Lin
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  3. Yuande Zhou
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  4. Pengcheng Wei
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Correspondence to Peng Lin.

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Shi, J., Lin, P., Zhou, Y. et al. Reinforcement Analysis of Toe Blocks and Anchor Cables at the Xiluodu Super-High Arch Dam. Rock Mech Rock Eng 51, 2533–2554 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-018-1517-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-018-1517-y

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