Chapter-2 B

ARCH & BUTTRESS

DAMS

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 1
 Arch Dams
 is a concrete dam with upstream curvature, structurally resisting the
imposed forces by arch and cantilever action.
 transmits the major portion of the water load to the abutments rather
than to the floor of the valley.
 restricted to relatively narrow valley sections with strong abutments.
 structurally more efficient than the gravity or buttress dam, greatly
reducing the volume of concrete required.
 In the case of double curvature, the saving in volume may exceed 80%
of that necessary for an equivalent gravity profile.

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 2
 Type of Arch dams
 Arch dams may be classified in to the following types:
 Single-curvature arch dams
 Double –curvature arch dams
 Arch-gravity dams

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 3
 Single Curvature arch dams
A. Constant radius profile
 has vertical u/s face of constant radius.
 The downstream face radius therefore varies with elevation.
 The central angle, 2θ, reaches a maximum at outer radius.
 It has the merit of analytical and constructional simplicity.

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 4
 Single Curvature arch dams …
B. Constant angle profile
 Is a special type of variable radius arch dam in which the central angle of
the arch rings at various elevations is constant, but the radii do vary.
 The central angle of arch rings at all elevations from top of the dam to its
base has the same magnitude.
 The profile is best suited to narrow and relatively symmetrical steep-
sided V-shaped valleys.

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 5
 Double curvature arch dams (Cupola profile)
 has a curvature in the horizontal as well as vertical planes (curved both in plan
and in elevation).
 has smaller thickness as compared to other types and hence is more economical.

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 6
 Methods for design of Arch dams
 The following methods are commonly used for the design and analysis of
arch dams
 Thin cylinder theory;
 Thick cylinder theory;
 Elastic arch theory;
 Trial load analysis;
 Shell theory; and
 Finite element method
 Here only thin cylinder theory and thick cylinder theory design methods
are discussed.

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 7
 Thin cylinder theory
 It is assumed that the entire water load is carried by the arch action.
 The pressure acting on the arch ring is equal to hydrostatic pressure at the
corresponding elevation.
 As the cylinder is thin, there is no variation of stress across the thickness
of the cylinder.
 If the arch ring is at a depth (h) below the water surface, the intensity of
pressure, P = γH.
 The total pressure (Ph) acting on the entire arch ring per unit height =
Intensity of pressure * Projected area normal to the direction of Ph.

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 8
 Thin cylinder theory…
PH  P * (2 * re * sin  / 2)
PH   w * h * (2 * re * sin  / 2)  PH  2 *  w * h * re * sin  / 2
 The pressure force Ph acts in the u/s direction along the axis of symmetry of the
arch ring and resisted by the reactions at the abutments.
 If R is the reaction at each abutment, its component in the u/s direction which
resists Ph is equal to (Rsinθ/2).
 From equilibrium in u/s direction: 2 *  w * h * re * sin  / 2  2 * R * sin  / 2  R   w * h * re
 If ‘f’ is the compressive stress developed in the arch ring, f=R/ (t*1). Substituting for
the value of R; f   w * h * re / t
 For safe design of the arch ring, the compressive stress (f) should not exceed the
allowable stress (fa) in compression for the material of the arch ring.
 Thus;  * h * re  * h * re
fa  w t  w
t fa

 w * h * ri
re  ri  t t 
fa   w * h

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 9
 Most Economical Central angle
 The thin cylinder theory can be used to compute the most economical
central angle of an arch dam for which angle; the volume of concrete
required is minimum.
 The volume of concrete per unit height is: V  re *  * (t *1)

  w * h * re   w * h * re2 * 
 Substituting the value of t: V  re *  *   
 fa  fa
 Le is the span of the arch ring: Le  2 * re * sin  / 2
 w * h * 
2
Le 
V  
fa  2 sin  / 2 
 For minimum volume of concrete: dv/dθ=0, hence θ= 1330 34’
For most economical angle: Le  2 * re * sin(133 34 / 2)
0 '


and re=0.544*Le

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 10
 Example-1: Thin cylinder theory
1. Design a constant radius arch dam for a valley 50m wide at the base and 80m
wide at the height of 50m from the base. Take the height of the dam as 50m,
Allowable stress in concrete 5MPa, and unit weight of water 10KN/m3 and assume
1.5m thickness at the top and central angle 1400.
Solution: The intrados radius, (ri): ri*sin (1400/2) =80/2=40m →ri= 42.57m, say 42.50m
 The extrados radius (re) =42.5+1.5= 44.00m. The extrados radius of all arches will
be kept as 44m.
 The calculations for the thickness at various elevations are given in table below.

Pressure
Depth of arch from Span Radius P=γw*h Thickness t=P*re/fa
water surface (h) (m) (Li) (m) (re) (m) (KN/m2) (m) ri (m)
0 80 44 0 0 (1.5m nominal) 42.5
10 74 44 100 0.88 (1.5m nominal) 42.5
20 68 44 200 1.76 42.24
30 62 44 300 2.64 41.36
40 56 44 400 3.52 40.48
50 50 44 500 4.4 39.6
BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 11
 Example-2: Thin cylinder theory…
2) Design a 100m high constant angle arch dam by thin cylinder theory for a valley
40m wide at the base and 240m wide at a height of 100m. Take fa = 5MPa and  =
133044’
Solution: ri = 0.544*B , re = ri + t and t  ( w * h * ri ) /( f a   w * h)
Depth of arch Pressure
from water Span (B) ri=0.544 P=γw*h  w * h * ri
t
surface (h) (m) (m) *B (KN/m2) P*ri fa –p fa   w * h re=ri+t
0 (1.5m
0 240 130.56 0 0 5000 nominal) 132.06
10 220 119.68 100 11968 4900 2.44 122.12
20 200 108.8 200 21760 4800 4.53 113.33
30 180 97.92 300 29376 4700 6.25 104.17
40 160 87.04 400 34816 4600 7.57 94.61
50 140 76.16 500 38080 4500 8.46 84.62
60 120 65.28 600 39168 4400 8.9 74.18
70 100 54.4 700 38080 4300 8.86 63.26
80 80 43.52 800 34816 4200 8.29 51.81
90 60 32.64 900 29376 4100 7.16 39.8
BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 12
100 40 21.76 1000 21760 4000 5.44 27.2
 Thick cylinder theory

Thick arch subjected to an external pressure, Pe.

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 13
 Thick cylinder theory…
 At the extrados, r=re and the circumferential stress is given by:
pe .(re2  ri 2 )
 te 
re2  ri 2
2. pe .re2
 The circumferential stress at the intrados is given by:  ti  2
re  ri 2

 But, the maximum compressive stress occurs at the intrados, taking:

 ti  fa
 2 p 
 Then,  t  re 1  1  
 f a 

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 14
 Example-3: Thick cylinder theory
 For the example-1 above, determine the thickness of the dam by thick
cylinder theory.

Depth of arch Pressure,  

t  re 1  1  2 p 
from water Span (Li) Radius P=γw*h  fa 
surface (h) (m) (m) (re) (m) (KN/m2) m ri (m)

0 80 44 0 0 (1.5 nominal) 42.5

10 74 44 100 0.89 (1.5 nominal) 42.5

20 68 44 200 1.80 42.24

30 62 44 300 2.72 41.36

40 56 44 400 3.67 40.48

50 50 44 500 4.65 39.6

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 15
 Buttress dams
 A buttress dam consists of a slopping u/s membrane which transmits the
water load to a series of buttress at right angle to the axis of the dam.
 The principal structural elements of a buttress dam are:
 the water supporting u/s deck and
 the buttresses that in turn support the deck.
 Buttress dams are adaptable to both overflow and non-overflow conditions.
 In overflow dams a downstream deck is provided to guide the flowing stream.

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 16
Buttress dams…

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 17
 Advantages of buttress dams
 less concrete used compared to a gravity dam of the same height,
 Increased surface area to volume ratio
 Better heat dissipation
 Increased speed of construction
 More safety against overturning and sliding because of the larger vertical
component of hydrostatic force exerted on the dam (highly inclined u/s face)
 Less massive than gravity dam hence may be used on weak foundation not
suitable for gravity dam
 Decreased uplift pressure ( if no spread footing, joining the buttresses is used)

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 18
 Disadvantages of buttress dams
 needs reinforcement and shuttering
 needs more skilled labor
 slabs and columns are highly stressed
 danger of deterioration of concrete of the u/s deck
 more formwork needed

BY ALEBEL ABUHAY 19