Abstract
A progressive low impact modular hydropower dam concept has been created by Littoral Power Systems to revolutionize the development of run of the river hydropower dams. The focus of the present research includes a preliminary design of the spillway module of the dam. Essential goals for this analysis focus on the ability of the spillway module to pass required flood flows while remaining structurally stable. With the use of daily flow data for four reference sites and hydraulic calculations specific to various design choices, contour plots of reservoir elevation under various flood conditions are created to aid the design process. Results demonstrate that the spillways capability to pass flood flow conditions is heavily dependent on-site conditions and two spillway design options are presented, including a "flat-bed" spillway module, and a larger "12- foot" module, which should be suitable for most sites. Based on the information presented, further design modification could be made on a site specific basis. Additionally, a reliability analysis for the dam structure was performed using a Monte Carlo simulation to investigate the probability of failure of a standard modular stack structure due to chipping and corrosion of structural members. This analysis evaluated the probability of corrosion leading to structural failure based on site hydrographic variables, spillway module rating curves, and structural model results. Preliminary analyses suggest that the performance of the evaluated design is satisfactory, but dependent on a total of five random variables, each requiring assumptions regarding their probabilistic distributions. The reliability analysis could be further refined by focusing on the specific assumptions associated with the random variables for more definitive results.