Damage analysis of arch concrete dams subjected to underwater explosion

The nonlinear behavior of arch concrete dams subjected to underwater explosions was investigated. Pressure waves were spherically modeled using a 3-D finite element method. The nonlinear behavior of concrete was modeled using the concrete damage plasticity model. In addition, absolute wave formulation was used to develop a fully-coupled model incorporating the propagation of the shock wave and water–dam interaction. Analysis of an arch concrete dam subject to underwater explosion was performed upon model verification. The dynamic response of the dam subject to the underwater explosion was studied for different sizes of explosions at different depths. The results showed that the closer the point to the explosive source, the sooner the impression and damage was caused by the blast. It was clear that the middle part of the dam facing the explosion was the first location to incur damage and then cracks extended to the downstream face and abutments. Finally, cracks extended to the bottom of the dam. The results of the dynamic analysis and dissipated energy by the loss of elements’ resistance indicated that the time slice of 150 ms was appropriate to analyze arch concrete dam structure subject to an underwater explosion. In addition, for a given amount of explosives, an increase in the depth of explosion corresponded to an increase in the maximum displacement of the upstream face of the dam. The results also confirmed that the damage distribution to the arch concrete dam subject to an underwater explosion depended upon the amount and depth of explosive materials.