Intelligent Stability Design of Large Underground Hydraulic Caverns: Chinese Method and Practice

The global energy shortage has revived the interest in hydroelectric power, but extreme geological condition always pose challenges to the construction of hydroelectric power stations with large underground caverns. To solve the problem of safe design of large underground caverns, a Chinese-style in...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiating Feng, Quan Jiang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2011-10-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/4/10/1542/
Description
Summary:The global energy shortage has revived the interest in hydroelectric power, but extreme geological condition always pose challenges to the construction of hydroelectric power stations with large underground caverns. To solve the problem of safe design of large underground caverns, a Chinese-style intelligent stability design, representing recent developments in Chinese techniques for the construction of underground hydropower systems is presented. The basic aim of this method is to help designers improve the stability and design efficiency of large underground hydropower cavern groups. Its flowchart consists of two parts, one is initial design with an ordinal structure, and the other is dynamic design with a closed loop structure. In each part of the flowchart, analysis techniques, analysis content and design parameters for caverns’ stability are defined, respectively. Thus, the method provides designers with a bridge from the basic information of objective engineering to reasonable design parameters for managing the stability of hydraulic cavern groups. Application to two large underground caverns shows that it is a scientific and economical method for safely constructing underground hydraulic caverns.
ISSN:1996-1073