Analysis of High Arch Dam Abutment Stability Based on MSC.Marc

By use of user subroutines, MSC.Marc is secondary developed. The seepage field is analyzed with heat transfer module in Marc system, and the free surface is defined by use of the active and inactive element technique and the technique of adjusting permeability coefficient at Gauss points in transitional elements. The seepage force is applied to element as an external force when the high arch dam abutment stability under seepage is analyzed through shear strength reduction finite element method. A cusp catastrophe model of maximum displacement in local domain and reduction coefficient is built as the instability criterion when using the shear strength reduction finite element method to evaluate the high arch dam abutment stability. The calculation of example indicates that this approach is feasible.