Abstract
The rock mass erosion of dam spillways, a phenomenon involving the interaction between the hydraulic load of water and the capability of the rock mass to resist its destruction, remains a critical safety issue. The erosion resistance of a rock mass can be estimated through several erodibility indices, including those of Kirsten, Pells or Bollaert. Several indices have been developed to link rock resistance to the hydraulic parameters of water, i.e., the hydraulic load applied on a rock mass. The developed indices use the average flow velocity, the average shear stress on the bottom of the flow channel, the stress applied to the internal joints of fractured rock mass, the dynamic impulse force, and the power dissipation of water to represent the erosive force of water. From these indices, several methods of assessing hydraulic erosion have been developed, and all use the threshold line concept. Nonetheless, several uncertainties are associated with these methods. This paper presents and discusses the various means of calculating the erosive force of water as a hazard parameter for predicting potential rock erosion. The representativeness of these approaches is also discussed, and we clarify nuances associated with each method. We then provide guidelines for future research aimed at improving estimates of the erosive force of the water within spillway flow channels.
Highlights
The notion of the hydraulic erodibility of a rock mass emerged around 1900 after observations of the degradation of rock masses under bridges [1]
Much research has focused on understanding this phenomenon, and several methods have been developed for evaluating the hydraulic erodibility of a rock mass using semi-empirical and semianalytical methods
Given that the viscosity of water is well known, the average shear stress at the bottom surface of a flow channel mainly depends on the variation of flow velocity, which is a function of the nature of the flow
Summary
The notion of the hydraulic erodibility of a rock mass emerged around 1900 after observations of the degradation of rock masses under bridges [1]. Much research has focused on understanding this phenomenon, and several methods have been developed for evaluating the hydraulic erodibility of a rock mass using semi-empirical and semianalytical methods. These methods have applied the concept of the “threshold line,” [4,5] a correlation between a hydraulic hazard parameter (e.g., shear stress, hydraulic power, and hydraulic energy) and the capacity of the rock to resist destruction. Turbulent flow is the flow mode that can produce these different erosion mechanisms
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