Comparison of the Thermal Behaviour of the Asphaltic Concrete Facing Protected by the Reflective Surface and Reinforced Concrete, Case of the Bouhnifia Dam, Northwest Algeria

In Algeria, several embankment dams have been protected against water infiltration by an asphaltic concrete facing to ensure their waterproofness and longevity, such as the Bouhnifia and Ghrib dams, that are the subject of this work. The aim of this study is to present the modelling of the transient thermal transfer of conduction coupled with convection and radiation in asphaltic concrete facing, in order to simulate temperatures using Fluent software, for two sites: the first site is Ghrib dam with a raw unprotected facing, the data of which are used to validate the model; the second site is Bouhnifia dam, and on its facing three cases are simulated. For the first case (raw facing), the modelling only concerns conduction, whereas for the case of the facing protected by a reinforced concrete layer, a heat transfer by free convection is added, with a convection coefficient of 20 W/m(2) degrees C, and for the last case where the facing is protected by the reflecting surface, a heat transfer by radiation is added. The modelling of the different cases is carried out for the two summers and winter periods; the comparative study between the different cases allows to determine which is the best solution to better protect the facing.