Fuerza Hidroestatica

Turabo University
School of Engineering
Department of Mechanical
Engineering

Hydroelectric Dam

Fernando L. Santiago ID# S00756784
Jonathan Lopez ID# S00178013

ENGI 305
Fluids of Mechanics
Prof. Gerardo Carbajal, Ph.D
Abstract

The need to implement mechanisms that supply power to the countries is a concern that is tending to grow. Due to limitedresources, there are implementing mechanisms such as hydroelectric dams, in order to use renewable energy resources. The study of fluid mechanics contributes largely to the analysis required to understand how the principles of science will allow the production of mechanical energy to transform potential energy into kinetic energy storage. After analyzing the different types of dams that exist and theirdesigns, using the governing equations as a result we can say that as the distance is greater between the surface and bottom of the water the greater the amount of electricity can be generated.

Contents

Introduction 4
Types of dam 5
Hydroelectric Dam 6
Mathematical Model 7
Results 8
Conclusion 10

Introduction

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams.Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees (also known as dikes) are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions.  Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity (See Fig.1). A dam can also be used to collect water or for storage of water which canbe evenly distributed between locations.
The word dam can be traced back to Middle English, and before that, from Middle Dutch, as seen in the names of many old cities.  Early dam building took place in Mesopotamia and the Middle East. Dams were used to control the water level, for Mesopotamia's weather affected the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and could be quite unpredictable.
The earliestknown dam is the Jawa Dam in Jordan, 100 kilometers northeast of the capital Amman. This gravity dam featured a 4.5 m high and 1 m wide stone wall, supported by a 50 m wide earth rampart. The structure was built in the age of 3000 B.C.  The Ancient Egyptian Sadd-el-Kafara Dam at Wadi Al-Garawi, located about 25 km south of Cairo, was 102 m long at its base and 87 m wide. The structure was builtaround 2800 or 2600 B.C. as a diversion dam for flood control, but was destroyed by heavy rain during construction or shortly afterwards.  By the mid-late third century B.C, an intricate water-management system within Dholavira in modern day India was built. The system included 16 reservoirs, dams and various channels for collecting water and storing it.

Types of dam
Arch dams – Dam that his owndesign is responsible for resisting the pressure of the water. Because the pressure is transferred in a very concentrated toward the slopes of the closed, requires that the rock is very hard and durable. Dams are the most innovative in design and less concrete is needed for construction, building first appears in the Tibi dam, built in Spain by Philip II. (See Fig. 1)

Fig. 1
Gravity dams -In a gravity dam, stability is secured by making it of such a size and shape that it will resist overturning, sliding and crushing at the toe. The dam will not overturn provided that the moment around the turning point, caused by the water pressure, is smaller than the moment caused by the weight of the dam. This is the case if the resultant force of water pressure and weight falls within the baseof the dam. However, in order to prevent tensile stress at the upstream face and excessive compressive stress at the downstream face, the dam cross section is usually designed so that the resultant falls within the middle at all elevations of the cross section. (See Fig. 2)

Fig. 2
Hydroelectric Dam

Most of the hydroelectric power comes from the potential energy of dammed water...