Hydrodynamic Pressure on Gravity Dams with Different Heights and the Westergaard Correction Formula

Abstract

Seismic dynamic analysis of gravity dams of five different heights in the time domain was performed based on the fluid–structure coupling model (FSCM). Compared with the results from the FSCM, the maximum hydrodynamic pressures on dams were found to be overestimated by the classical Westergaard formula. The position of the maximum hydrodynamic pressure from the FSCM was found to be obviously raised along the upstream surface of the dam, not at the heel of the dam as in the solution of Westergaard formula. Thus, the Westergaard formula was revised with consideration to the influence of the height of dam, the elasticity of dam, and the absorption characteristic of the reservoir bottom on the hydrodynamic pressure. The solutions of the Westergaard correction formula are quite consistent with the hydrodynamic pressures noted in previous reports.