Design of Stilling Basin Linings with Sealed and Unsealed Joints

One of the main causes of lining damage in stilling basins and at the toe of chute spillways is the global instantaneous uplift forces due to the difference in pressure acting on the upper and the lower surface of protection slabs or rock elements. Spillway stilling basin linings can be built according to two different techniques: using sealed joints or unsealed joints. In the case of sealed joints, the pressure underneath the slab is constant and the uplift force results from the pressure fluctuations acting on the slab. In the case of unsealed joints, the pressure propagation at the lower surface of the slab, being transferred through the joints, should also be considered. The aim of the paper is to study, define, and compare the design criteria in these two cases. In the present study, the pressure field on the slab is evaluated according to a recent method based on the Taylor hypothesis, whereas the pressure propagation under the slab is computed by a new 3D model based on unsteady flow analysis of seepage through porous media. By this approach, it is possible to consider the effect of finite thickness foundation layers, typical in the case of weirs for run-of-river power plants, earth dams, and rock-fill dams. Furthermore, to complete the presented design criteria, the dynamic behavior of anchored slabs is experimentally investigated with reference to the sealed joint case due to a lack of studies in the literature. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0001218. © 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.