JIA Jin-sheng 1, 2, WANG Yang 1, 2, FENG Wei 1, 2, CHANG Qing-rui 1, 2

1. State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, Beijing 100038, China. 2. China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China

Abstract: A new lab simulation method for concrete structure hydraulic fracturing test has been presented under tensile stress or compressive stress condition. Fracture mechanics has been used to verify the lab result and calculation parameters used. Based on the results of the experiment, FEM analysis and comparative studies between super high gravity dams in China and other countries, estimated formula for hydraulic fracturing analysis on concrete structure and gravity dams were developed. It can be used to evaluate the safety of super high gravity dam considering hydraulic fracturing. Based on the results achieved, it may have safety problem for gravity dams over 200m designed by current specifications of China, USA or Switzerland, especially for RCC gravity dams, and therefore it is necessary to consider the hydraulic fracturing in the specification of gravity dams over 200m.

Key words: gravity dam, RCC, hydraulic fracturing, model test

Published in: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Vol. 44, No. 2, 2013