The equivalent permeability tensor is essential to the application of the equivalent porous media model in the numerical seepage simulation for fractured rock masses. In this paper, a revised solution of the equivalent permeability tensor is proposed to represent the influence of the fracture connectivity in discontinuous fractures. A correction coefficient is involved to reflect the com- plex seepage flow type through the rock bridge. This correction coefficient is back analyzed from single-hole packer tests, based on the Artificial Neural Network （ANN） back analysis and the Finite Element Method （FEM） seepage simulation. The limitation of this back analysis algorithm is that the number of single-hole packer tests should be equal or greater than the number of fracture sets, and three is the maximum number of the fracture sets. The proposed solution and the back analysis algorithm are applied in the permea- bility measurement and the seepage simulation for the Xiaowan arch dam foundation.
In the Xiaowan arch dam there are massive temperature cracks nearly parallel to the dam axis. Obviously, whether the cracks may spread or not during the water storage process is one of the crucial factors for the safety of a dam. In this paper, a new type of crack element, in which the contact component is implicitly included into the concrete component, is proposed to simulate the effects of the existing cracks. The crack element is proved by numerical example to share the merits of both conventional contact elements and joint elements. With a finite element model of the cracked arch dam together with its rock foundation established, the transient displacement and stress fields of the dam are obtained. The complicated rock foundation, the construction process of the arch dam, the massive cracks, the transient temperature field, as well as the water storage process have been taken into consideration in the simulation. In addition to the global model, several sub-models for typical crack tips are also generated with finer elements placed around the tips. Thus, more accurate displacement and stress distribution are obtained by simultaneous sub-model simulation. Based on the calculation of stress intensity factor for crack tips by extension method, the temperature cracks in the Xiaowan arch dam are finally proved to be stable.
WANG WeiMingDING JianXinWANG GuoJinZOU LiChunCHEN ShengHong
