Investigation on Hydraulic Fracturing in Embankment Dams

One of the most dangerous threats which embankment dams face with is hydraulic fracture. This phenomenon usually happens during first water impounding when the water pressure increases instantly in dam’s core. There are different methods to study hydraulic fracturing in embankment dams. In this paper Hyttejuvet Dam, a rock fill dam in Norway, which has been damaged by hydraulic fracture, is selected to evaluate the efficiency of these methods. Behavior of the dam during construction and first water impounding is modeled using finite element method. Afterwards using different methods, hydraulic fracturing is investigated for the Hyttejuvet Dam. In the next step using relations which correctly predicted fracturing in Hyttejuvet dam, the risk of this phenomenon is studied for Galabar Dam in Zanjan Province, Iran. Therefore coupled pore fluid-displacement analysis has been conducted for the dam during construction and first water impounding stage. These investigations showed that hydraulic fracture in the Hyttejuvet dam is correctly predicted by Komakpanah and Ghambari relations. Also hydraulic fracturing of Glabar Dam is judged unlikely.