INVESTIGATING THE MAJOR CAUSES OF CRACK FORMATION IN BUTTRESS NO. 18 OF SEFID-RUD DAM

摘要

Crack is one of the phenomena which affects supremely concrete integration as well as its aesthetics. Crack occurrence in a concrete structure is due to the interaction of concrete with the surrounding external or internal environmental conditions. Existence of cracks in dams, which are under commissioning, may influence their efficient operation. In order to be able to rehabilitate and repair cracks, it is necessary first of all, to identify the nature and reason(s) of occurrence the phenomenon. The appropriate rehabilitation could be applied once the necessity is justified. This paper concentrates on the nature and reason(s) of occurrence of a particular crack in the Sefid Rud buttress dam. For this purpose a three-dimensional finite element model of buttress no. 18, which the crack has occurred, along with all its appurtenances as well as its rock foundation was prepared. Since the crack has appeared from the very beginning of the commissioning of the dam, all of the possible environmental conditions were considered. The finite element model, which was adopted, was analyzed by means of using ANSYS program, which has a multi-purpose finite element application. A sensitivity analysis was carried out due to a slight uncertainty of data were made available. The paper concludes that the ambient temperature and the dam buttress geometry are the main reasons of the crack, which exists.