Karnati Vineeth Reddy

Development of a rock mass quality index for dam spillways erosion using experimental and numerical method

Direction : Dr. Ali Saeidi

Co-direction : Dr.Alain Rouleau, Dr. Marco Quirion (Hydro-Québec)

Rôle : Doctorant

Informations de contact : vrkarnati@etu.uqac.ca

Informations de la recherche : The erosion of rock-mass in the unlined dam spillways that has been recorded at several dam sites around the world shall be a serious threat to the stability of dam. The erosion of the rock-mass is a complicated 3D phenomenon that takes into account several hydraulic and geomechanical parameters. The prediction of rock mass erosion can be performed using semi-empirical, semi-analytical or numerical approaches. Numerical modelling can be a best option for assessing the rock mass erosion considering the uncertainty of the results based on semi-empirical and semi-analytical approaches in the realistic situations. To better understand the erosion process, several field data should be considered for analysing the parameters affecting this process. Besides this, carrying out the prototype model testing to determine the relevance of each parameter on this erosion process becomes an important considering towards this phenomenon. This research aims at determining the effect of several geomechanical parameters on the hydraulic erosion through analysis of existing database, prototype testing & the numerical analysis using 3DEC software and finally develop a rock mass quality index.