Temperature field analysis of hydraulic engineering structure with cracks based on XFEM

Abstract

For the long-term exposure to temperature load, certain parts of a concrete structure have more or less cracks during their construction or operation period. Obviously, the existence of cracks disrupts the heat transmission, having a significant impact on the existed cracks, and is not conducive to operate the structure safely. Thus, it is necessary to calculate and analyze the temperature field. XFEM was introduced into the analysis of the temperature field in hydraulic structures for its unique advantage of solving discontinuous problems, in this paper. Firstly, the approximation form of the temperature field of cracked structure was analyzed and provided; and then the discrete equations for solving discontinuous temperature field was deduced, where the crack was simulated by isothermal form, namely, the temperature field is continuous but its first derivative is not continuous; and then the temperature field by XFEM was established. A numerical example of a cross shaped plate with slit was used to verify whether the proposed method is reasonable and reliable. Finally, this method is used to analyze the expansion of the cracks in the face slab of a concrete face rock-fill dam in winter. The results are consistent with the actual monitoring results.