Abstract
After construction of a dam impounding water in a reservoir, a monolithic seepage field develops in the surrounding rock mass. Here, a new finite element method is proposed for determining the shape and characteristics of the 3D monolithic seepage field including the free surface, considering complex drainage systems consisting of densely-spaced drainage holes and drainage galleries. To this end, the previously proposed virtual flux method is improved by a refined numerical integration scheme and a regularized Heaviside function for distinguishing the subregions below and above the free surface within a particular finite element. Leakage and overflow drainage holes are modeled as internal boundaries. The proposed numerical method is verified by an academic example, for which the analytical solution is available. Finally, the numerical simulation of the seepage field developing in the vicinity of a high dam and underground power house, constructed in the context of a hydropower plant project in China is used to show its application to a problem in engineering practice.
Highlights
In recent years, a large number of high dams, large reservoirs and pumped storage power stations, usually accompanied by underground powerhouses and other caverns, have been under construction in China
A new finite element method is proposed for determining the shape and characteristics of the 3D monolithic seepage field including the free surface, considering complex drainage systems consisting of densely-spaced drainage holes and drainage galleries
The proposed improved virtual flux method (IVFM) can be employed for analyzing free surface seepage problems with a greater accuracy
Summary
A large number of high dams, large reservoirs and pumped storage power stations, usually accompanied by underground powerhouses and other caverns, have been (and are) under construction in China. In these construction projects, extremely complex seepage fields develop, especially when complex geological conditions are encountered and/or drainage galleries with arrays of densely-spaced drainage holes are arranged. After construction of a high dam and impoundment of the reservoir, a three-dimensional monolithic seepage field is formed in the dam, in the vicinity of the underground powerhouse and in the surrounding rock mass. The accurate numerical analysis of the complex monolithic seepage field, e.g. by means of the finite element method (FEM), is of great importance
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