Fluid diffusion related aging effect in a concrete dam modeled as a Timoshenko beam

Aging related damage within a concrete dam is often associated with the diffusion of certain particles which then activate internal chemical action. In this paper, a hemivariational method for a nonhomogeneous and damaged Timoshenko beam model is proposed in order to describe damage and deformation in a dam caused by the diffusion of an aging fluid. The proposed model is used to perform a suite of parametric studies. In these studies, the dam is subjected not only to the concentrated and distributed external forces and couples (dual of displacement and rotation of the section, respectively) but also to the dual of the concentration of the aging fluid, called external distributed aging fluid influx pressure, that drives the incoming flow of the aging fluid which is, for this purpose, coupled with the damage evolution. The results are utilized to predict the life time of the dam. The life of big structures is a crucial point in civil engineering because it is linked with the safeguarding of human life.