Tension load on a dam anchor (Stability analysis of gravity dam)

[ENGIRL]

Hello,
I am doing a stability analysis of a gravity dam with a passive anchor.
to calculate the security factor of sliding. I need to evaluate compression load in concrete C.c and tension load in anchor Ts.
I have used CADAM3D to get results for dam without the anchor. Does anyone know how I can reevaluate sliding considering the anchor is in place?
Thank you

 

[PEinc]

By "passive anchor," I assume you mean that the tiedown anchor is not pre-tensioned and locked off against the dam. If so, I would ignore any contribution from the anchor when checking sliding. Every dam job I have looked at over many years (none very recently) used tensioned tiedown anchor which were locked off at 100% to maybe 110% of the anchor's design load. In that case, the downward force of the loaded anchor would increase the normal force and help prevent sliding.

http://www.PeirceEngineering.com

 

[ENGIRL]

Thank you.
Yes, the the anchor is not pre-tensioned. I first did the analysis ignoring the contribution from the anchor. But the results show that the dam is not stable, that is why I am trying to check if the contribution of the anchor helps.
I could add a security factor of Vr/Vf (anchor shear resistance over shear load) but I think I need to evaluate if there is a tension load on the anchor at the same time So I can check if I can use 100% of Vr or less.

 

[PEinc]

Dam tiedown anchors are usually designed for tension loads only, not shear loads. Are your "passive anchors" intended only as shear dowels to resist sliding? If so, they are not tiedown anchors.

http://www.PeirceEngineering.com