Abstract: Transverse joints in arch dam construction severely affect the safety, efficiency, and economy of the project. The utilization of low-heat cement concrete as dam body filling provides a basis for construction of an arch dam without transverse joints due to its low thermal stress, but it will suffer a great risk of dam cracking if conventional temperature control is adopted. To avoid the risk, this paper constructs a temperature stress surrogate model for modeling low-heat cement concrete-filled arch dams without transverse joints, examines the calculation method of failure strength under thermal stress conditions. For this concrete, we also examine its strength reduction and work out a new method for intelligent control of its temperature. Results show that the new method offers the feasibility of arch dams without transverse joints, through taking full consideration of strength reduction caused by concrete creep effect. It can achieve the goal－eliminating transverse joints in arch dams, ensuring structural safety, and improving construction efficiency.

Key words: hydraulic engineering, low-heat cement concrete arch dam, transverse joint, surrogate model, strength reduction, intelligent temperature control