Numerical modeling of the thermal regime of the frozen-type embankment dam of the Anadyr hydrosystem

Abstract

Construction and operation of hydraulic structures in permafrost conditions is a complex engineering task, our country faced during the northern territories’ development at the beginning of the 20th century. One of the main problems of the engineering structures’ construction and operation in the areas of permafrost soils is their seasonal and technogenic thawing. According to the data of long-term climate observations, tendencies of climate change with an increase in average annual temperatures have been repeatedly noted, especially in the northern regions. The operation of dams in permafrost conditions is complicated by the reservoir’s significant impact on the construction of the dam and its thermal regime. Under such conditions, up-to-date simulation methods, that consider the processes of heat and mass transfer, phase transition, filtration, operation of cooling units and the presence of snow cover, can be used to analyze the current state and predict the behavior of a structure in future. Based on numerical simulation on a computer the present article describes the thermal regime and the stress-strain state of the frozen-type embankment dam of the Anadyr hydrosystem, which has been continuously operated since 1986. The initial data for modeling the structure were taken from field observations conducted in 2018–2019.