Analysis of the Abutment Movements of High Arch Dams due to Reservoir Impoundment

Abstract

The deformation of mountains induced by reservoirs around high arch dams may influence the safety of those arch dams, but the underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon have not yet been elucidated. The abutment movements of the Jinping-I and Xiluodu arch dams during reservoir impoundment are analyzed systematically in this paper, and the analysis reveals that impoundment led to basin irreversible uplifts. The underlying mechanisms are analyzed from the viewpoint of the constitutive relation of rock mechanics. Based on the theories of poroelasticity and poroplasticity, the effective stress principle of rock is deduced considering the effect of high pore pressure. The modified nonlinear finite element program TFINE is used to simulate the abutment movements of the Jinping-I arch dam, and the calculated values are in accordance with the measured values, verifying the validity of the revised effective stress principle.