ABSTRACT
The Xiaowan arch dam, constructed across the Lancangjiang river in Yunnan province, is, at 292 m in height, the highest arch dam in China. Owing to the combined significant head of water and arch action, it was necessary to analyze the interaction between the seepage and the stress fields in the rock mass around the dam. Numerical solutions for the coupled seepage and stress fields were analyzed using the multi-level fracture network model and the finite element method. The numerical results showed that the water storage in the reservoir had the four following major effects: (1) considerable change in the seepage field; (2) increase in the effective vertical stress in the rock foundation near the dam; (3) increase of tensile stress in the abutment rock mass; and (4) coupled action between the seepage and the stress fields must be considered.
