Study on the Prevention Measures and Causes of Cracks in Arch Crests of Galleries in High Concrete Dams

Abstract

More and more high dams with huge reservoirs have been built in China in recent years. A lot of research work on the causes of cracking in galleries of low concrete dams has been carried out at present, while studies on that of high concrete dams are less with the lack of systematic cognition. Based on that, the research on high concrete dams is conducted in this paper, using the method of finite element simulation. It is proven that self-weight action has more influence on the stress of arch crests of galleries existing in high concrete dams, especially the galleries whose overlying concrete height is relatively high. And surface cracks tend to appear in arch crests of these galleries under gravity. In the end, measures for improvement of the stress of arch crest are put forward, of which the effect of enlarging reinforcement is relatively obvious.