| Application | PLAXIS 3D |
| Version | Latest version |
This example concerns the stability of a reservoir dam under conditions of drawdown. Fast reduction of the reservoir level may lead to instability of the dam due to high pore water pressures that remain inside the dam. The dam to be considered is 30 m high. The top width and the base width of the dam are 5 m and 172.5 m respectively. The dam consists of a clay core with a well-graded fill at both sides. The geometry of the dam is depicted in the image below. The normal water level behind the dam is 25 m high. A situation is considered where the water level drops 20 m. The normal phreatic level at the right-hand side of the dam is 10 m below ground surface. The sub-soil consists of overconsolidated silty sand.
This exercise requires a PLAXIS 3D Ultimate license for transient groundwater flow calculations.
The provided *.p3dlog file contains all the commands to generate the model. With a Bentley Geotechnical SELECT Entitlement [GSE] license, you can use the link to save as the file (remove the extension .txt) and with the Commands runner open to execute all commands in one go, see also this instruction.
Downloads
PLAXIS 3D Tutorial 07 - Instructions [PDF]
PLAXIS 3D Tutorial 07 - Rapid drawdown analysis [ULT].log [command log file]