LAB

CONSTRUCTING AN ARCH DAM

6.1 Surface Area, Volume, and Fluid Force

W
hen designing structures like dams, many ques- Purpose
tions arise. How much material will be needed to In this lab, you will analyze the construction of an arch dam
build the structure? If the material used to build the and find its surface area and volume. You will also study the
structure needs curing, like concrete does, what is the surface fluid force on one of the dam’s gates. You will use Maple to
area? What forces act on the structure and how can the forces verify your results.
be calculated? Calculus is a helpful tool in answering these
questions. References
For more information about the calculus of dam design, see
Observations Calculus, Understanding Change, a three-part, half-hour
A common design used in the construction of dams is the video produced by COMAP and funded by the National
arch dam. An arch dam is usually built in a narrow canyon Science Foundation.
and curves toward the water it contains. The canyon itself is
used to support the dam. The force of the water against the
dam is transferred outward to the canyon walls.

LAB 6.1 CONSTRUCTING AN ARCH DAM 43

 Data
Data

O
ne model for a cross section of an arch dam whose dimensions are given in
feet is as follows.

270 ≤ x ≤ 216

5
0.03x2 1 7.1x 1 350,
f sxd 5 389, 216 < x < 0
26.593x 1 389, 0 ≤ x ≤ 59

A graph of the cross section is given below.

400
(− 16, 389) (0, 389)

(−16, 244)

(−70, 0) (59, 0)
x
− 80 − 40 (−16, 0) 40 80

The graph of a cross section of the arch dam is stored in the Maple file called
LAB0601.MWS.

44 Maple Lab Manual for Calculus

Exercises
Exercises
Name ______________________________________________________________

Date ______________________________________ Class ___________________

Instructor ___________________________________________________________

1. Calculating Area Without Calculus. Explain how you would calculate the
area of a cross section of the arch dam without using Calculus. Use your
explanation to calculate the area of a cross section of the arch dam. Is the
area you found exact? Why or why not?

2. Calculating Area With Calculus. Explain how you would calculate the
area of a cross section of the arch dam using Calculus. Use your explanation
to calculate the area of a cross section of the arch dam. Is the area you found
exact? Why or why not?

LAB 6.1 CONSTRUCTING AN ARCH DAM 45

 3. Calculating Area With Maple. Use Maple to calculate the area of a cross sec-
tion of the arch dam. Is the value for area you found using Maple the same as
the value you found in Exercise 2? If the values are not the same, explain why
they are different.

4. Calculating Volume. To form an arch dam, the cross section described in this
lab’s Data is swung through an arc, rotating it about the y-axis as shown in the
figure below. The cross section is rotated 1508 and the axis of rotation is 150
feet. Explain how you would calculate the volume of the arch dam. Use your
explanation to calculate the volume of the arch dam.

400

300

200

100

x
100 200 300
−200 −100
150°

46 Maple Lab Manual for Calculus

5. Calculating Volume With Maple. Use Maple to calculate the volume
of the arch dam. Is the volume you found using Maple the same as the vol-
ume you found in Exercise 4? If the values are not the same, explain why
they are different.

Fluid Force on a Gate. Use the following information to answer Exercises

6-9. A series of vertical gates allows water from the dam to flow to an electrical
plant. Each gate has an elliptical shape. So a gate can be properly designed, it is
important to determine the fluid force that will be applied to the gate. The force
F exerted by a fluid of constant weight-density w (per unit of volume) against a
submerged vertical plane region from y 5 c to y 5 d is

F5w Ec
d
hsydLs yddy

where hs ydis the depth of the fluid at y and Ls yd is the horizontal length of the
region at y. The top of the gate is 140 feet above the base of the dam, and the
bottom of the gate is 112 feet above the base of the dam. The width of the gate
at its center is 16 feet.

LAB 6.1 CONSTRUCTING AN ARCH DAM 47

 6. Find the equation of the ellipse that describes the face of the gate. Assume
that the origin of the coordinate system is located at the center of the gate.
Use the equation of the ellipse

x2 y2
2 1 2 5 1
b a

to find the horizontal length Ls yd of the region at y.

7. Find the equation that describes the depth hs yd of the water at y. Assume that
the origin of the coordinate system is located at the center of the gate and the
water can reach the full height of the dam.

8. Find the integral for the fluid force on the gate. Assume the weight-density
w of the water is 62.4 pounds per cubic foot. Evaluate the integral. In what
unit of measure is the answer?

9. The gate is rotated 908, so that the top of the gate is 134 feet above the base
of the dam, and the bottom of the gate is 118 feet above the base of the dam.
The width of the gate at its center is 28 feet. Will the pressure be more than,
the same as, or less than the pressure you found in Exercise 8? Explain.

48 Maple Lab Manual for Calculus