Advanced numerical techniques for modeling tensile crack propagation in gravity dams

Abstract

Cracks propagating deep inside gravity dams can seriously affect their structural safety. Due to the potential catastrophic scenarios associated to the collapse of large concrete dams, it is a fundamental issue to realistically predict the eventual crack profiles and the ultimate structural resistance associated to the failure mechanisms. This work investigates tensile crack propagation in concrete gravity dams by using some new recently developed numerical techniques (crack-path field and strain injection techniques) [1-3] associated to a Rankine-type plasticity model. The work carefully addresses aspects related to mesh independence (mesh bias and stress locking), robustness, and computational cost, which are the main issues in material failure modeling. The numerical simulations presented in the paper show the advantages of the presented approach.