What are the forces
on a gravity dam?

These are the main forces on a dam.
Roll over each force to see it on the dam. Click on each one to learn more about it:

• forces of the reservoir water

• uplift force

• weight of concrete

• all forces together

• there may be water on the downstream side of the dam as well; this water will have the same sort of vertical and horizontal forces on the dam as the water on the upstream side
  
• internal hydrostatic pressure: in pores, cracks, joints, and seams
  
• temperature variations
  
• chemical reactions
  
• silt pressure; silt will build up over time on the upstream side; silt provides about 1.5 times the horizontal pressure of water and twice the vertical pressure of water
  
• ice load on the upstream side
  
• wave load on the upstream side
  
• earthquake loads
  
• settlement of the foundation or abutments
  
• other structures on top of the dam -- gates, a bridge, cars
  
• creep of concrete: deformation of the concrete when under a constant load for a long period of time.
  

Forces on a dam in a simuation

To the left is a dam modelled for simulation. You must tell the program where the dam feels forces. You won't include all of the possible forces on the dam on the first simulation; just try to include the main ones to get a feel for the general behavior of the dam. Then include some other forces on the dam to get an idea of which ones matter.

Here, the forces are signified by the yellow dots. First, on the left hand edge, the dam feels the force of the water. Second, on the slanted right edge, the dam feels the weight of the concrete at a single point (it really should be at the centroid). The force of the water and the weight of the concrete are the two most important forces to include in your simulation.