Comparative Study Procedure for the Safety Evaluation of High Arch Dams

Abstract A set of factors for the safety evaluation of the dam heel crack and ultimate bearing capacity of high arch dams is presented: the curtain safety factor k 1 , the structural mutation safety factor k 2 , and the ultimate safety factor k 3 . The factor k 1 reflects the curtain safety at the dam heel, k 2 describes the structural mutation stage for the adjustment of the multiple arch–cantilever system, and k 3 reflects the ultimate bearing capacity of the entire dam structure. A comparative study on the performance and ultimate bearing capacity of dams is performed to give a more reasonable evaluation criterion of safety factors.