Numerical analyses on shield-type inflatable dam

The shield-type inflatable dam, integrating the steel shield and inflatable dams, has been developed recently to overcome the water-retaining limitations of conventional inflatable dams. In this study, a series of numerical studies are conducted using FLAC ^2D software to investigate the performance of the shield-type inflatable dam. Parametric studies are carried out to examine the influence of upstream water head, air pressure, dam perimeter, and the anchor distance on the cross-sectional configuration, water-retaining capacity, and circumferential tensile force distribution of the shield-type inflatable dam. It is suggested to design the shield-type inflatable dam using the optimal normalized parameters with an air pressure p ₀  = 0.6 γL , a cross-sectional perimeter L  = 2 L ₀ , and an anchor distance D =  0.05 L _0, where L and L ₀ are the length of the inflatable dam and steel shield, γ is the unit weight of water. Designed using these parameters, the shield-type inflatable dam increases the critical water-retaining height by 34.4% and reduces the maximum tensile force by 13.9% compared to the conventional inflatable dam. These findings provide new insights into the structural behavior and contribute to the practical design of the shield-type inflatable dam.