Cracking dams intro

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Where are cracks likely to start in dams?

Based on the history of cracks in dams, there are some of the places where cracks are most likely to occur in dams:



cracks at the base of an arch dam


cracks near the foundation and on the downstream side of a gravity dam


cracks in the arches of an arched buttress dam


These cracks can start for many reasons, such as earthquakes, settling or other movement of the foundation, temperature variations, or chemical reactions, as you saw earlier. The cracks in a gravity or arch dam might look like this in a two-dimensional simulation (cracks in green):



cracks in a gravity dam simulation


cracks in an arch dam simulation


What happens to the crack -- does it grow?




Intro to fracture math Crack propagation