 Geo-Tec
B FAQs
Dam Calculations
In the case of a dam, what is the best
way to consider the hydraulic pressure on the upstream face?
Do you use a water bed which is above
the ground surface (will this then compute the hydraulic load
on the upstream face?) or do you use a trapezoidal load to represent
the water?
It is possible to use two different methods depending on the
result wanted.
First case:
We have a dam with water on one side (let's suppose on the
right side). We want to verify the dam from right to left.
The best method is to consider a water stratum. A water stratum
has 0 porosity, O cohesion coefficient, 0 Fi and 0 weight.
The water bed is on the top of this stratum.
The slide surfaces must continue inside the "water stratum"
until the surface.
In this case Geo-Tec B considers the weight and the pressure
of the water bed correctly.
Second case:
We have a slope in the water as on a lakeshore or seaside.
We want to verify the stability of the slope immerged in the
water.
In this case it isn't possible to apply the first method and
it's necessary to consider the water as a triangular or trapezzoidal
load on the terrain (to consider the effect of the water on the
terrain surface) plus the water bed (to consider the effect of
the pressure of the water inside the terrain).
There is a special case to simulate a quick emptying of a
lake. It's possible to simulate this case deleting the loads
on the surfaces and maintaining the water bed on the top level.
This because some time is needed for the water inside of the
terrain to come out and in the meantime the internal pressure
of the water corresponds to the top level of the water bed.
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