Lecture 5:

Dams
Dams
Dams are structures that block the flow of a river, stream, or other waterway. Some
dams divert the flow of river water into a pipeline, canal, or channel.
Purpose of Dams
Dams are built for the following purposes:

1.Irrigation and drinking water

2.Power supply (hydroelectric)

3.Navigation

4.Flood control

5.Multi-purposes
Purpose of Dams
Section of a dam used for hydroelectric
Types of Dams
Analysis of Dams
A dam is subjected to hydrostatic forces due to water which is raised on its upstream side. These
forces cause the dam to slide horizontally on its foundation and overturn it about its downstream
edge or toe. These tendencies are resisted by friction on the base of the dam and gravitational
forces which causes a moment opposite to the overturning moment. The dam may also be
prevented from sliding by keying its base.
Analysis of Dams
1. Consider 1 unit (1 m) length of dam (perpendicular to the sketch) and identify the heel
and the toe.

𝑯𝒆𝒆𝒍
𝑯𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝑻𝒐𝒆 𝑻𝒐𝒆
Analysis of Dams
2. Determine all the forces acting.

2.1 Vertical forces

2.1.1 Weight of the dam
2.1.2 Weight of water above the dam (if any)
2.1.3 Weight of permanent structures on the dam
2.1.4 Hydrostatic uplift

2.2 Horizontal forces

2.2.1 Total hydrostatic force acting at the vertical projection of the
submerged portion of the dam

2.2.2 Other forces like wind pressure, wave action, floating bodies and
earthquake load (if applicable)
Analysis of Dams
3. Solve the resultant force

3.1 Vertical resultant force, 𝑹𝒚 = σ 𝑭𝒚

3.2 Horizontal resultant force, 𝑹𝒙 = σ 𝑭𝒙

4.Moment about the toe

4.1 Overturning Moment, OM.

These are the moments about the toe causing rotation towards the downstream
side.

4.2 Righting Moment, RM.

These are the moments about the toe causing rotation towards the upstream s
ide.
Analysis of Dams
5.Location of 𝑅𝑦 (𝑥 ) and e

σ 𝑹𝑴 − σ 𝑶𝑴 𝑩
ഥ=
𝒙 𝒆= ഥ
−𝒙
𝑹𝒚 𝟐

6.Factor of Safety

6.1 Against Overturning, 𝑭𝑺𝑶

σ 𝑹𝑴
𝑭𝑺𝑶 = > 𝟏. 𝟎
σ 𝑶𝑴

6.1 Against Sliding, 𝑭𝑺𝑺

𝝁𝑹𝒚
𝑭𝑺𝑺 = > 𝟏. 𝟎
𝑹𝒙
 Analysis of Dams
7.Foundation pressure
7.1 If 𝒆 ≤ 𝑩/𝟔

𝑹𝒚 𝟔𝒆
𝒒=− 𝟏±
𝑩 𝑩

𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒊𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏

Take Note: (-), No need to include in computation.

Note: Use (+) to get the stress at point where is 𝑅𝑦

nearest. In the diagram shown, use (+) to get
𝑞𝑇 and (-) to get 𝑞𝐻 . A negative stress indicates
compressive stress and a positive stress indicates
tensile stress.
Analysis of Dams
7.Foundation pressure
7.2 If 𝒆 > 𝑩/𝟔

𝟐𝑹𝒚
𝒒𝒎𝒂𝒙 =
𝟑ഥ
𝒙

𝒒𝒎𝒊𝒏 = 𝟎

Note:
1. The unit weight of water, 𝛾𝑤, is 9.81 kN/m3
2. The unit weight of concrete, 𝛾𝑐, is usually taken as 23.5
kN/m3
3. The 𝜇 is the coefficient of friction between the base of the
dam and the foundation
Problem Set 7
Problem 1
𝒌𝑵
The section of a concrete gravity dam is shown. Unit weight of concrete is 𝟐𝟒 𝟑 .
𝒎
Hydrostatic uplift varies from 90% of the heel to 0% at the toe. Coefficient of friction
between the base of the dam and the foundation is 0.80.

a) Calculate the factor of safety against sliding.

b) Calculate the factor of safety against overturning.
c) Calculate the distance of the 𝑅𝑦 from the toe.
d) Calculate the pressure at the heel.
e) Calculate the pressure at the toe.

𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧:
𝒌𝑵
𝜸𝒄 = 𝟐𝟒 𝝁 = 𝟎. 𝟖𝟎
𝒎𝟑

Hydrostatic uplift varies from 90% of the heel to 0% at the toe.

Problem Set 7 1. Consider 1 unit (1 m) length of dam
𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧: 𝜸𝒄 = 𝟐𝟒
𝒌𝑵
𝝁 = 𝟎. 𝟖𝟎
(perpendicular to the sketch) and identify 𝒎𝟑
Problem 1 the heel and the toe.
Hydrostatic uplift varies from 90%
2. Determine all the forces acting. of the heel to 0% at the toe.

𝑭𝑽

𝟏
𝟐 𝑾𝟏
𝒄𝒈

𝑾𝟐

𝒄𝒈

𝒄𝒈
𝑭𝑯𝟏 𝒄𝒈
𝒄𝒈 𝑭𝑯𝟐
𝑯𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝑻𝒐𝒆

𝑼𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 = % 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 𝟎. 𝟗𝟎 𝟗. 𝟖𝟏 (𝟗) = 𝟕𝟗. 𝟒𝟔𝟏 𝒌𝑵/𝒎𝟐

Problem Set 7 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧: 𝜸𝒄 = 𝟐𝟒
𝒌𝑵
𝝁 = 𝟎. 𝟖𝟎 Hydrostatic uplift varies from 90%
𝒎𝟑 of the heel to 0% at the toe.
Problem 1
Moment produced about
Moment Arm, m
Forces Magnitude of Forces, kN the toe, kN.m
(from the toe)
𝑴 = 𝑭(𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒎)
𝑾𝟏 = 𝜸𝒄 𝑽𝟏
𝟏𝟕𝟐𝟖 𝒌𝑵. 𝒎
𝑾𝟏 (↓) 𝑾𝟏 = 𝟐𝟒𝒌𝑵 / 𝒎𝟑 (𝟒𝒎𝒙𝟗𝒎𝒙𝟏𝒎) 𝟐𝒎
𝑹𝑴
𝑾𝟏 = 𝟖𝟔𝟒 𝐤𝐍
𝑾𝟐 = 𝜸𝒄 𝑽𝟐
𝟏𝟕 𝟑𝟎𝟔𝟎 𝒌𝑵. 𝒎
𝑾𝟐 (↓) 𝑾𝟏 = (𝟐𝟒)(𝟎. 𝟓𝒙𝟓𝒙𝟗)(𝟏) (𝟏/𝟑)𝒙𝟓 + 𝟒 =
𝟑
𝒎
𝑹𝑴
𝑾𝟏 = 𝟓𝟒𝟎 𝐤𝐍
𝑭𝑽 = 𝑾 = 𝜸𝑽 𝟐𝟐
(𝟐/𝟑)𝒙𝟓 + 𝟒 = 𝒎 𝟏𝟔𝟏𝟖. 𝟔𝟓 𝒌𝑵. 𝒎
𝑭𝒗 (↓) 𝑭𝑽 = (𝟗. 𝟖𝟏)(𝟎. 𝟓𝒙𝟓𝒙𝟗)(𝟏) 𝟑 𝑹𝑴
𝑭𝑽 = 𝟐𝟐𝟎. 𝟓𝟕𝟓 𝐤𝐍
𝑼𝑻 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝐱𝐁𝐱𝐔𝐱𝐋 𝟐 𝟐𝟏𝟒𝟓. 𝟒𝟓 𝒌𝑵. 𝒎
𝑼 (↑) 𝑼𝑻 = (𝟎. 𝟓)(𝟗)(𝟕𝟒. 𝟒𝟔𝟏)(𝟏)
𝟑
𝒙𝟗 = 𝟔𝒎
𝑶𝑴
𝑼𝑻 = 𝟑𝟓𝟕. 𝟓𝟕𝟓 𝐤𝐍
𝑭𝑯𝟏 = 𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑫𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝟏 𝟏𝟏𝟗𝟏. 𝟗𝟏𝟓 𝒌𝑵. 𝒎
𝑭𝑯𝟏 (→) 𝑭𝑯𝟏 = (𝟎. 𝟓)(𝟗. 𝟖𝟏𝒙𝟗)(𝟗)(𝟏)
𝟑
𝒙𝟗 = 𝟑𝒎
𝑶𝑴
𝑭𝑯𝟏 = 𝟑𝟗𝟕. 𝟑𝟎𝟓 𝐤𝐍
𝑭𝑯𝟏 = 𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑫𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝟏 𝟒𝟒. 𝟏𝟒𝟓 𝒌𝑵. 𝒎
𝑭𝑯𝟐 (←) 𝑭𝑯𝟏 = (𝟎. 𝟓)(𝟗. 𝟖𝟏𝒙𝟑)(𝟑)(𝟏)
𝟑
𝒙𝟑 = 𝟏𝒎
𝑹𝑴
𝑭𝑯𝟏 = 𝟒𝟒. 𝟏𝟒𝟓 𝐤𝐍
Problem Set 7 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧: 𝜸𝒄 = 𝟐𝟒
𝒌𝑵
𝝁 = 𝟎. 𝟖𝟎 Hydrostatic uplift varies from 90%
𝒎𝟑 of the heel to 0% at the toe.
Problem 1
a) Calculate the factor of safety against sliding.

𝝁𝑹𝒚
𝑭𝑺𝑺 = > 𝟏. 𝟎 𝑹𝒚 = ෍ 𝑭𝑽 ; 𝑹𝒚 = 𝑼𝒕 − 𝑾𝟏 − 𝑾𝟐 − 𝑭𝒗
𝑹𝒙
𝑹𝒚 = 𝟑𝟓𝟕. 𝟓𝟕𝟓 −𝟖𝟔𝟒 −𝟓𝟒𝟎 −𝟐𝟐𝟎. 𝟕𝟐𝟓
𝑹𝒚 = 𝟏𝟐𝟔𝟕. 𝟏𝟓 𝒌𝑵 ↑

𝑹𝒙 = ෍ 𝑭𝑯 ; 𝑹𝒙 = 𝑭𝑯𝟏 − 𝑭𝑯𝟐
𝑹𝒙 = 𝟑𝟗𝟕. 𝟑𝟎𝟓 − 𝟒𝟒. 𝟏𝟒𝟓
𝑹𝒙 = 𝟑𝟓𝟑. 𝟏𝟔 𝒌𝑵 ←
(𝟎. 𝟖𝟎)(𝟏𝟐𝟔𝟕. 𝟏𝟓)
𝑭𝑺𝑺 = > 𝟏. 𝟎
𝟑𝟓𝟑. 𝟏𝟔

𝑭𝑺𝑺 = 𝟐. 𝟖𝟕𝟎 > 𝟏. 𝟎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒊𝒕′ 𝒔 𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈.

Problem Set 7
Problem 1
b). Calculate the factor of safety against overturning.

σ 𝑹𝑴
𝑭𝑺𝑶 = > 𝟏. 𝟎 𝑹𝑴 = ෍ 𝑹𝑴 ; 𝑹𝑴 = 𝟏𝟕𝟐𝟖 + 𝟑𝟎𝟔𝟎 + 𝟏𝟔𝟏𝟖. 𝟔𝟓 + 𝟒𝟒. 𝟏𝟒𝟓
σ 𝑶𝑴
𝑹𝑴 = 𝟔𝟒𝟓𝟎. 𝟕𝟗𝟓 𝒌𝑵. 𝒎

𝑶𝑴 = ෍ 𝑶𝑴 ; 𝑶𝑴 = 𝟐𝟏𝟒𝟓. 𝟒𝟓 + 𝟏𝟏𝟗𝟏. 𝟗𝟏𝟓

𝑶𝑴 = 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟕. 𝟑𝟔𝟓 𝒌𝑵. 𝒎

𝟔𝟒𝟓𝟎. 𝟕𝟗𝟓
𝑭𝑺𝑶 = > 𝟏. 𝟎
𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟕. 𝟑𝟔𝟓

𝑭𝑺𝑶 = 𝟏. 𝟗𝟑𝟑 > 𝟏. 𝟎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒊𝒕′ 𝒔 𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈

𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆: 𝒊𝒇 𝑭𝑺𝒐 < 𝟏. 𝟎, 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒌𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆

Problem Set 7
Problem 1
c). Calculate the distance of the 𝑅𝑦 from the toe.

σ 𝑹𝑴 − σ 𝑶𝑴
ഥ=
𝒙 𝑹𝑴 = 𝟔𝟒𝟓𝟎. 𝟕𝟗𝟓 𝒌𝑵. 𝒎
𝑹𝒚
𝑶𝑴 = 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟕. 𝟑𝟔𝟓 𝒌𝑵. 𝒎
𝟔𝟒𝟓𝟎. 𝟕𝟗𝟓 − 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟕. 𝟑𝟔𝟓
ഥ=
𝒙 𝑹𝒚 = 𝟏𝟐𝟔𝟕. 𝟏𝟓 𝒌𝑵 ↑
𝟏𝟐𝟔𝟕. 𝟏𝟓

ഥ = 𝟐. 𝟒𝟓𝟕 𝒎 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒆

𝒙

𝟐. 𝟒𝟓𝟕𝒎

𝑻𝒐𝒆

𝑹𝒚
Problem Set 7
Problem 1
𝑩
d). Calculate the pressure at the heel. 𝟐
e). Calculate the pressure at the toe.
𝟐. 𝟒𝟓𝟕𝒎
𝑩 𝑩 𝟐. 𝟎𝟒𝟑𝒎
𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆: 𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒇 𝒆 > 𝒐𝒓 𝒆 ≤
𝟔 𝟔
𝑩 𝑯𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝑻𝒐𝒆
𝑩/𝟔 𝑩/𝟔
𝑹𝒚
If 𝒆 ≤ 𝑩/𝟔 If 𝒆 > 𝑩/𝟔
𝑩 𝑩 𝑩 𝑹𝒚 𝟔𝒆 𝟐𝑹𝒚
𝟑 𝟑 𝟑 𝒒= 𝟏± 𝒒𝒎𝒂𝒙 = 𝒒𝒎𝒊𝒏 = 𝟎
𝑩 𝑩 𝟑ഥ
𝒙

𝑩 𝟗 𝑩 𝟗
𝒆= ഥ
−𝒙 = − 𝟐. 𝟒𝟓𝟕 = 𝟐. 𝟎𝟒𝟑 𝒎 = = 𝟏. 𝟓 𝒎
𝟐 𝟐 𝟔 𝟔

𝑩 𝑩 𝟐𝑹𝒚
𝒆? 𝟐. 𝟎𝟒𝟑 > 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒒𝒎𝒂𝒙 = 𝒒𝒎𝒊𝒏 = 𝟎
𝟔 𝟔 𝟑ഥ
𝒙
Problem Set 7
Problem 1
d). Calculate the pressure at the heel.
e). Calculate the pressure at the toe.
𝟐. 𝟒𝟓𝟕𝒎
𝟐. 𝟎𝟒𝟑𝒎
𝟐𝑹𝒚
𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒒𝒎𝒂𝒙 =
𝟑ഥ
𝒙 𝑯𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝑻𝒐𝒆
𝒒𝒎𝒊𝒏 = 𝟎 𝑹𝒚

𝟐(𝟏𝟐𝟔𝟕. 𝟏𝟓) = 𝟑𝟒𝟑. 𝟖𝟐𝟎 𝒌𝑵 = 𝒒𝒕𝒐𝒆

𝒒𝒎𝒂𝒙 =
𝟑(𝟐. 𝟒𝟓𝟕)
𝒒𝒎𝒊𝒏 = 𝟎
𝒒𝒎𝒊𝒏 = 𝟎 = 𝒒𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒍
𝑯𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝑻𝒐𝒆
Do you have any
questions?

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