Stability analysis on the concrete slab of the highest concrete-faced rock-fill dam in South Korea

Design and management of concrete slabs in concrete-faced rock-fill dams are crucial issues for stability and overall dam safety since cracks in the concrete face induced by stress, shrinkage, and deterioration can cause severe leakage from the reservoir into the dam. Especially, the increase of dam height to a certain level to enhance the storage capacity and to improve hydraulic stability can lead to undesirable deformation behavior and stress distribution in the existing dam body and in the concrete slabs. In such conditions, simulation of a concrete slab with a numerical method should involve the use of an interface element because the behavior of the concrete slab does not follow the behavior of the dam body when the dam body settles due to the increase of dam height. However, the interfacial properties between the dam body and the concrete slab have yet to be clearly defined. In this study, construction sequence of a 125 m high CFRD in South Korea is simulated with commercial FDM software. The proper interfacial properties of the concrete slab are estimated based on a comparison to monitored vertical displacement history obtained from the concrete slab. Possibility of shear strength failure under the critical condition is investigated based on the simplified model. Results present the significance of the interfacial properties of the concrete slab.