The latest issue of Dam Engineering (Volume XXIX, Issue 4) has been published. The journal includes two technical papers and a project feature (abstracts below):

Experimental Study of Weir Height Effect on Flow Over a Sharp-Crested Trapezoidal Planform Weir

S Kumar, K K Gupta & N Mishra

Abstract: In comparison to a normal weir, labyrinth weirs produce a longer crest length over the same channel width due to skewness for enhancement of its discharging capacity under a given operating head. In this investigation experimental studies were performed to determine the discharge characteristics of sharp-crested trapezoidal planform weirs for various crest lengths. Experiments were conducted on twenty-four different trapezoidal planform weirs manufactured from mild steel plates. The effectiveness of this type of weir is found to be better than for a conventional weir. Their efficiency is found to be more favorable for a weir having less height, but decreases with the rise of head over the weir due to the intervention of nappe downstream. Sensitivity of the weir, i.e. discharge variation due to change per unit head over the crest, is also analyzed and it is found that the sensitivity is more at low head over the weir and low weir height.

Reshaping of a Double-Curvature Arch Dam Using APSO Algorithm to Increase Safety

A R Asaadi, S A Gharebaghi, H Mirzabozorg & A H Roohezamin

Abstract: In the present study, reshaping of a double-curvature arch dam is executed by Adaptive Particle Swarm Optimization (APSO) algorithm. The main idea is to minimize the volume of the concrete used in the dam body (objective function) by modifying some geometrical characteristics of the dam, while satisfying all the structural, geometrical and constructional constraints. To do so, a program is developed in MATLAB to implement APSO algorithm and a structural model is provided in ANSYS software. Dez Dam, as a thin high arch dam, is chosen as a case study and by calling ANSYS as a routine from MATLAB, a complete loop of optimization process is formed. The results indicate the minimization of concrete volume utilization along with the improvement of the stress state when imposing the optimization to the provided model.

A Global Workplace

With its humble beginnings entwined with the development of the Snowy Mountains Scheme in 1949, Australian based engineering consultant SMEC has grown from strength to strength and is involved in a number of schemes globally.

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