Question

In any design of hydraulic structures, a safety factor should be included. Describe what a safety factor is and why it is crucial in the design. This question is open-ended. Therefore it must be supported by relevant literature.

Answer 1

Sol) As we know the safety factor is defined as the ratio of the maximum value of the load or stress that the structure can hold without any failures to the applied load or stress on the structure.

It is used in the design of any structure (hydraulic structures) .

The partial safety factor is applicable for the load and the material strength. The safety factor is determined with the maximum allowable stress.

The reasons of using a safety factor in the design of hydraulic structures are as below :

1. The safety factor is used to design a structure that can with stand any sudden change in the loading beyond its design strength.

2. Soil is the most unpredictable material and its failure may lead to the failure of structure ultimately. To accommodate this structure for a higher value of load is designed by using an appropriate factor of safety.

3. There can also be some error that occurs in the design or approximation of strength of material and hence the factor of safety is mandatory.

4. To make the hydraulic structure's design more economical , the safety of the structure should not be compromised, thus factor of safety plays a vital role in its design.

In big hydraulic structures like dams and reservoirs we should not take risk as they are large scale structures. so, we have to definitely apply factor of safety so that the structure would last longer and can bear all types of loads.