A study on thermal analysis of under-construction concrete dam

Abstract

This paper represents the thermal analysis of an under-construction concrete dam. The temperature distribution of the Dasu dam was analyzed by the thermal and heat of hydration model in this case study. An exponential function was used for the heat of hydration because an adiabatic calorimetric test was not available for the concrete mixture in Dasu. Hydration heat is estimated at five, nine, and twenty-nine days. The temperature monitoring system was installed at the dam site to record the actual temperature and it was compared with the predicted temperature using formulas. It is also necessary to note that the cooling of concrete starts from the bottom with the help of piped water. To facilitate the grouting of contractions joint, was the purpose of post-cooling by piped water. Concrete cooling with the help of piped water is not modeled by thermal code. Therefore its evaluation of temperate was not possible to simulate at that starting stage. Let us compare the observed temperature and calculated it, for the middle blocks eight-nine and thirteen-fourteen the height of the blocks is 96.00 m and the cross-section is also the same. The value was the same for the observed temperature and calculated before applying post cooling. It was observed that air temperature also has influenced due to seasonal variation near dam surfaces. The study outcomes stand unlimited influence to notice the engineers proceed with distinct measures in the design and structure of the recent concrete dam for reducing the possibility of cracking in the structure and optimizing the construction schedules.

Keywords

• Thermal analysis
• Finite elements
• 3-Dimensional Analysis
• Thermo-chemical
• Dam Temperature