Experimental study on a geo-mechanical model of a high arch dam

This paper presents the complete experimental study on the Geo-Mechanical Model of Jinping high arch dam to observe the deformation and study the stability of the dam abutment and foundations of the Jinping first stage hydropower project. The model considers various factors influencing the stability of dam abutment and foundation during the test, which includes overloading and strength-decreasing of weak structural planes in the rock mass of the dam foundation. A temperature-analogue material is employed to simulate the decreasing strength of the weak structural planes. The temperature-analogue material and model testing technique are developed for the first time. Secondly, the comprehensive method that considers both overloading and strength-decreasing is applied to the model successfully. Deformation characteristics, failure patterns and mechanisms of the dam abutment and foundation are achieved. The safety evaluation based on the experimental model indicates that the whole stability safety factor of the dam abutment and foundation is 4.7–5.0.