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Estimating An Appropriate Plastic Concrete Mixing Design For Cutoff WallsTo

Control Leakage Under The Earth Dam

Conference Paper · November 2009

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 Paper code.NO.CT0415

Estimating An Appropriate Plastic Concrete Mixing Design For Cutoff

WallsTo Control Leakage Under The Earth Dam

Akbar Pashazadeh1 , MohammadKia Khosravi 2 , Navid Ganjian 3 ,

Morteza Chekani Azar 4

1- Master of science of GeoTechnic, manager of concrete basis quality control of Armalat

company, geocivilpasha@yahoo.com
2- Master of science of GeoTechnic, professor of Azad University of Damavand,
mkia_kh@yahoo.com
3- PhD Student of soil and foundation mechanic, Paradise of Technical Faculties of Tehran
University, navidganjian@yahoo.com
4- Licentiate student of civil engineering, Azad University of Maragheh,
mchekaniazar@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Making use of concrete materials in cut-off walls, because of their low permeatabilty and standing high Hydraulic
Gradient caused by underground drainage, has traditionally received great amount of attention. Using ordinary
concretes with high elasticity modulus, compared to other materials that could be found nearby, may accompany with
problems including brittleness of cutoffs due to due to dynamic stress.
To solve this problem, adding a certain percentage of clay (Betonite) to plastic concrete materials reduces the concrete
hardness as well as its elasticity coefficient, resulting in better ductility. Adding Ebonite (clay and excavation mud)
decreases the possibility of hydraulic failure and cracking.
Present article analyzes plastic components of the concrete and parameters which affect properties and manner of its
mixing design. Based on the results that have been obtained from experiments on plastic concrete samples which have
various mixing plans, certain diagrams have been presented to obtain an ideal mixing plan for plastic concretes which
result in determining a key relationship to be able to estimate an appropriate mixing of cutoffs to control leakage under
the dam. While under current situation, using these relationships to estimate the appropriate mixing for plastic concrete
in order to control leakage under the dam is costly and time consuming with considerable amount of errors.

Key words: Plastic Concrete, permeability, ductility,,elasticity modulus

1 INTRODUCTION

Since dams are rarely constructed on completely impermeable ground, there may be an amount of
water which flows under the dam.
Leakage from beneath the dam foundation and increasing hydraulic gradient is considered as the
greatest danger causing problems such as foundation erosion. There are several methods to control
possible leakage as well as check drainage water gathering under the dam including interrupting
drainage water flow net, reducing it by using complete cutoff walls and decreasing drainage water
rate through building a semi – permeable vertical cutoff layer.
Among these methods, cutoff wall, injection layer, using very low permeable core in dam body,
suing floodgate surface in top of the dam and using sheet pile and shield are considered to be
notable, each of which have its own advantages and disadvantages and their own application.
Cutoff walls is a method which is used as an impermeable element in such cases as impoundment
earth dam foundation to control leakage from foundation, impoundment excavation area beneath the
underground water level in great projects such as earth dams, concrete dams and power plant
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 Paper code.NO.CT0415

constructing underground multi-story parking, impoundment garbage burying limit, constructing

installation and coastal structure foundation , supporting walls and fixing gradient (using bars
anchors), under ground dams to keep the under ground water level high in alluvium and permeable
aears as well as preventing mixing of salt water in fresh water.
Cutoff wall is a wall with low rate of permeatability which is built under the dam foundation
extending until one impermeable layer even into the layer itself to be able to substitute for the
improper materials and prevent from the drainage water to become flow.

Table 1- specifications of certain executed cutoff walls [2, 3,4,5,8]

Dam name Flood wall length (m) Flood wall depth (m) Flood wall thickness (cm)

Karkhe 2940 18 – 120 80 – 120

Stor - 50 100
Convento Viejo 540 55 80
Ghourichay of Ardebil - 9 100

Table 2 indicates samples of plastic concrete mix design used in a variety of dams, specially the
biggest earth dam of the country (Karkheh). The data have been used in sketching the graphs that
have been presented in this article.

Table 2- sample of plastic concrete mix design [2, 3,4, 5, and 8].

Parameters characteristics obtained from tests Material amount used in Plastic concrete
mixing plans

kg kg m
Dam name f c¢( ) Ec ( ) Slump(cm) K( )10 -10 Gravel Sand Bentonite Cement Water
cm 2 cm 2 sec
Stor 19.0 42500 21 7.4 850 750 36 150 450
Arasbaran 8.5 - - 4.5 800 700 50 110 400
Karkhe 31.0 37000 19 4.7 795 705 37 195 360
UKAI
- - - - 100 740 - 210 970
Salman
farci 44.44 7300 - - 990 810 60 180 350

Khalf abad - - - - 750 750 50 150 350

Shahrchay - - - - 850 850 60 140 400
Tehtali 5.8 - - - 400 650 48 200 600

2 FACTORS WICH AFFECT PLASTIC CONCRETE PROPERTIES

Plastic concrete is composed of gavel, sound, betonite, cement and water. It is called "plastic
concret"for its ductility and high plastic. The main factor which creates it is Betonite powder. Main
objective of designing plastic concrete is to provide compressive strength, low permeatability and
an elasticity modulus close to properties of adjacent environment materials through choosing plastic
concrete components properly. Based on ICOLD suggestion, plastic concrete mix design should
include the following properties:
To provide compressive strength of its cylinder sample
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 Paper code.NO.CT0415

Having a permeatablity coefficient within the range of 10 -8 ~ 10 -9 m

sec
Having an elasticity modulus within the range of (4~5) times of elasticity of the surrounding soil of
concrete.
Having a slump within the range of (10~22) cm.
The concrete must be able to bear hydraulic gathering, heat gathering and gathering caused by
losing water in forming process. Betonite mud keeps cement particles and gravel in suspension,
improving its ductility, reducing its permeatability and finally enhancing its persistence. It is
suggested to set consumption rate on 20% level of betonite mud. As to the consumed gravel whose
volume is 50%of plastic concert, maximal size of coarse grain to be limited to 20 mm while having
roper graining properties. For this purpose, approximately 50% of stone materials limit to 0.5 mm
(gravel) and 20% limit to (5-9.5) mm and the others limit to (9.5-20) mm.

figure 1: Indicates graining curve

In addition to the above- mentioned materials, additives are used to improve its efficiency and
sodium carbonate is used to facilitate its sedimentation rate. Quality control of gravels is based on
ASTMC33, while quality control of cement is based on ASTMC130 and quality control of Betonite
is based on API.

ICOLD proposes the following:

betonite running mud rate be about 400-500 liters
cement: approximately 100-200
gravel and sand material by good aggregation less than 1500kg
gravel and sand material by bad aggregation less than 1300kg

Also, produced concrete will have special weight of about 1.8-2.1 ton/m3

Now we continue with describing paragraphs which affect various plastic concrete properties:
Compressive strength: despite plastic concrete of cutoff walls do not need high strength; its
compressive strength must be much enough to bear lateral stresses from soil, whether in executing
process or operation. On the other hand, a minimal strength of 10-30kg/cm3 is essential to obtain
material with proper ductility. Due observance of ductility principle, compressive strength of plastic
concrete may increase to 40kg/cm2. W/C ratio, aggregation, type of cement and quality of gravel
exert significant effect on concrete strength.
Permeatability: permeatability depends on the components inherent properties and their
discontinuity. Increased W/C ratio increased colloid factor and using proper additives reduces
permeatability.
10 -8 ~ 10 -9 m is an appropriate range for permeatability coefficient.
sec

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 Paper code.NO.CT0415

Deformability: plastic concrete should be able to bear deformation which results form dm subside
due to its own weight, and rise of dam foundation, vertical & horizontal deformation due to the
construction and operation period, as well as deformation due to the horizontal & vertical load,
earthquake, explosion, above all, surrounding soil load of the wall.
For this purpose, those materials are needed which have features similar to wall soil and can bear
deformations properly. ICOLD suggests that if elasticity modulus changes are low in the soil depth,
elasticity modulus of the plastic concrete can be fore or five times more than that of surrounding
soil.

Abration strength and durability: plastic concretes must have suitable duration in ordinary, abrasive
temperature. It can be provided only through a proper mixing plan or material replacement. In
addition, it must show an appropriate abrasive strength as well.

3 PROPOSED RELATION AND GRAPHS TO ESTIMATE A PROPER PLAN FOR

PLASTIC CONCRETE MIXING

Given the mixing plans on dam constructing projects, samples of which have been presented in
table 2, following relations are proposed to obtain a relationship in order to find a proper plan for
plastic concrete mixing wit minimal error, because using such relations, estimating a plan for plastic
concrete for cutoffs in order to control water leakage from the beneath dam is carried out only with
many errors and demands considerable cost.

a.Selecting relevant features of cutoff walls based on by-law recommendations and experimental
findings such as (fc, E, K and slump)
b.Selecting the materials which are needed to be consumed by the plastic concrete using the existing
and available materials such as cement, betonite, graining and velocity of grains.
c.Selecting B/C and W/C ratio

Based on the plastic concrete mixing plans used in a variety of dams which have yielded successful
results, especially the greatest earth damp of the country (Karkhe), the B/C and W/C ratio is
selected from proposed figures of 2 and 3 as follows:

30
-1.4121
F(C) = 52.083 (W/C)
25
R = 0.77
F(c) kg/cm2

20

15

10

0
1 1.25 1.5 1.75 2 2.25 2.5 2.75 3 3.25 3.5 3.75
W/C

Figure 2: Compressive strength relation and water: cement ratio in plastic concrete

4
 Paper code.NO.CT0415

30
-0.9243
25 F(C) = 255.2(B/C%)
R = 0.75
20

F(C) kg/cm2
15

10

0
10 20 30 40 50
(B/C)%

Figure 3: Compressive strength relation and betonite: cement ratio in plastic concrete

B+C f c¢
Estimating adhesive material ratio to the consumed amount of water in terms of
W
using the relations that were derived from the diagrams

As:

(B+C) /W=1/ (W/C) + ((B/C)/(W/C)) (1)

From diagrams, we have:

B 1
= (2)
C 0.002495 ( f c¢)1.081

Also

W 1
= (3)
C ( 0 . 019 f c¢ ) 0 . 7

Substituting 2 and 3 in 1, we obtain:

B+C 0.7082 - 0.3737

(4)
= 0.062 f c' + 0.2445 f c'
W

Where (B+C) is amount of adhesive materials, (W) is amount of water (kg) and f c¢ is
compressive strength of 28 days of sample 6 inches in terms of KN/m2

As a result, the following graph can be used to determine ratio of adhesive material to amount of
water in plastic concrete which has been used in cutoffs in order to bear high hydraulic gradient
caused by drainage water .

5
 Paper code.NO.CT0415

1.2

0.8

(B+C) / W
0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

f'c (kg/cm2)

Figure 4 : Compressive strength relation and water: adhesive materials ratio in plastic concrete

a. Determinig elasticity modulus in plastic concrete:

(5)
Ec = 170 f C' - 239
Where Ec is elasticity modulus of plastic concrete (Kn/m2 )

b. Controlling the permeability of plastic concrete: given the amount of betonite and B/C ratio,
according to diagrams 5 and 6, permeatability of plastic concrete can be obtained.

1.00E-09
-0.7968
K(m /sec) = 1E-08 B
R = 0.66
K(m/sec)

1.00E-10
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
B

Figure 5: Permeability relation and betonite amount in plastic concrete

1.00E-09
-0.7626
K(m/sec) = 1E-10(B/C)
R = 0.62
K(m/sec)

1.00E-10
0.05 0.15 0.25 0.35 0.45 0.55
B/C

Figure 6: Permeability relation and bentonite: cement ratio in plastic concrete

6
 Paper code.NO.CT0415

c. controlling the slump thorough conducting experiments:

it should be noted that no design which can result in meeting all these features has been
introduced. It needs frequent errors. This method can reduce the number of errors properly.

4 CONCLUSION

Graphs and relations presented in this research can be used to determine the ratio of adhesive
materials to the amount of water that is consumed in plastic concrete in building cutoffs and
reducing the time and money consuming processes
2- meeting ideal requirements is difficult and, in some occasions, impossible. We must look for
a better limitation for features and qualities.
3- numerical analyses that have been conduced on the dependent variables (fc, E and K) and
independent variables (B, W/B, W/C) indicate a strong relationship (R>0.6) in the presented
diagrams based on practical experiences.

4- it seems that one of the most effective factors, here, is precision, failure to measure variable
parameters and lack of due precision in determining the features and variable nature of the
parameters under study.

5 REFRENCES

[1] Pashazadeh Akbar, Khosravi MohammadKia, Ganjian Navid,

Estimating Plastic Concrete Mixing Plan Suitable for Flood
Wall of Mud Dams, 14th Civil Students Conference and First
International Civil Students Conference, Semnan, Shahrivar 87
[2] Rahimi, Hassan, Earth Dams, Tehran University Press, Bahar 82
[3] Moshaver Mahab Qods engineering company, Store Dam and
powerhouse plan, documentation report
[4] Mansoori Kia, Mohammad Tagi, considering and preparing
applicable guide of using plastic concrete in floodgate layer of
dams
[5] Company of Developing water and power resources of Iran,
Moshaver Mahab Qods engineering company, Sepasad
engineering company, specialized workshop of Karkhe Dam
flood wall papers collection
[6] Technical Committee of constructing and estimating operation
expenses of dams technology, (Iran great dams national Committee) No. 13 publication,
filling material to create flood wall

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 Paper code.NO.CT0415

[7] Soroush, Abbas, laboratory study of plastic concrete permeability

[8] Alvarz, Luise, Bernal, Alberto, Antonio Marin, gathering and
translating by Ahmad Farhadi Langroudi, Moshaver Mahab Qods
engineering supervising affair, Ordibehesht 74, plastic concrete
properties of Convento Viejo dam flood wall, Chile, 1982
[9] Mianji, Yaghoub, Behrangi, Ali (Cyber company, Power ministry)
operating flood wall of big dams foundation (by using Hydroferz)
[10] Shamsaee, Abolfazl, plastic concrete flood wall to control leak of
the dams, research essay collection of Civil Engineering Faculty,
Sanati Sharif University, 1377, p 153-10, 147
[11] Zamin Azma Company, plastic concrete mixing plan report of
Arasbaran Dam
[12] Parsa, 1374, effective factors in operation quality of flood wall,
Master of Science thesis of Amir Kabir University
[13] Family, h, 1368, Fundamental of behavior concrete (Translation)
[14] Mansouri, T, 1372, flood walls, Master of Science thesis of
Tarbiat Modarres University
[15] Technical assistance of management and plan organization
[16] Baldowing, and Eberra, 1969, Diaphragm walls
[17] Uwhitman, R, 1984, Construction of Diaphragm Walls
[18] Ryan, H, 1985, Slurry Cutoff Walls Method and Application
[19] Design standards, embankment dams, cutoff walls, Eng&
research center, Denver Colorado, 1987
[20] Watertight cutoff wall, Final revised method statement, Ostour
dam and H.P.P project, Jan, 2003

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