DefinePK

Abstract

Gabric dam which is placed at Hormozgan, Iran has height of 41 m and is placed on an alluvium layer with 13 m thickness. One of the design alternatives for this construction is embankment dam with asphalt core. Regarding to design condition, the asphaltic core has been placed over alluvium foundation and cutoff wall has been contrived for seepage control. Whereas the asphaltic core posed over cutoff wall and shell posed over alluvium foundation, unsymmetric settlements at constructions was expected during construction and sluicing periods which can affect the behavior of asphaltic core. In order to obtain a clear understanding of this behavior, two dimensional finite element analyses have been performed and different contours for stresses and displacements have been presented. Due to obtained results the effect of core deformation modulus, stiffness of coarse grain alluvial foundation and removal of fine grain alluvial on principle stresses, principle shear stresses and vertical and horizontal strains have been investigated. Also, vertical stress distribution at the end of construction and vertical and horizontal displacements after sluicing have been studied. Results show that vertical stress values in asphaltic core reach two times of overburden pressure that indicates considerable load transfer to asphaltic core and maximum vertical displacement of asphaltic core in the end of construction was 0.22 m while horizontal displacement of asphaltic core is negligible. Also, the results reveal that removal of alluvial layer from beneath of down-stream shell will not assist adjustment of stresses and strains in core.