Instrumentation of dam steel gates for stresses evaluation, Malpaso, Chiapas, Mexico

摘要

This paper describes the verification of the structural integrity for the gates of the flood spillway of the hydroelectric dam Malpaso (Chiapas, Mexico), which height was increased about 1 m because they had to operate close to the extraordinary maximum water level. The increment on the water level of the reservoir was originated because of the weather conditions that had recently caused the sliding of a mass that had obstructed the river, downstream of the dam. Works had to be done on the obstruction zone, and the Malpaso dam had to stop its energy production.The gates were instrumented with strain gage rosettes, an analysis of the theoretical model subjected to those conditions was generated, and their performance was evaluated. The analyses showed that the performance of the gates do not represent a risk for the service of the structures.