Definition of Geometry of Variable Radius Arch Dam with Degree of Polynomial in the 3D Finite Element Analysis

The shape of an arch dam has of paramount importance in its ultimate behavior and eventually settles all design criteria. Variable curvature arch dams evolved to be economical in shape optimization studies. In Finite Element Analysis, the arch dam geometry is to be modeled very accurately. But the arch dam geometry may be varying in the three dimensions and with irregular boundaries depending on the design of profile according to site conditions; extrados intrados curves mainly in the horizontal and vertical directions need to be of higher order. Here in this paper, how effectively this type of complex arch dam geometry can be modeled by means of higher order hexahedral elements using Langrange polynomial of required degree in the respective directions is presented.