Feasibility studies concerning decision-making for various types of items to be used in a small hydropower scheme is important for estimating the energy generation, the approximate cost of the project, and the required budget allocation. A computer program named RETScreen, which is commonly used in the North Americas, is capable of evaluating the energy generation, investment and maintenance costs for small hydro-projects. This thesis is based on application of this program to the Turkish practice. To this end, energy and cost equations dealing with energy generation and cost estimation of various items, such as costs of turbines, generators, installation of energy equipment, transmission line, etc., will be applied according to the common practice currently used in Turkey. A case study is performed to illustrate the use of this program. With the use of this program, it may be possible to perform quick successive runs to assess economic feasibility of several alternatives.

Numerical dam break analyses of Kirazlik&ouml / pr&uuml / Dam are performed under various hydraulic scenarios. Kirazlik&ouml / pr&uuml / Dam is located on the G&ouml / kirmak River near the city of Bartin. The objective of these analyses is to investigate adverse effects of such dam break failure on the regions downstream of the dam. The numerical model used in the simulations is FLDWAV, which is developed by the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States. It appears that most adversely effected regions are those that are closest to the dam location. The results of these simulations can be used sufficiently to prepare emergency action plans in case of possible failures.

Previous studies have shown that screens may be utilized efficiently for dissipating the energy of water. For the present study, a series of experimental works are executed to investigate the tailwater and multiple screen effects on the energy dissipation through screens. Water flowing beneath a sliding gate is used to simulate the flow downstream of a hydraulic structure. In the present study, one double screen and two double screen arrangements with porosity of 40% and inclination angle of 90 degree is used. A tailwater gate structure is used to adjust the tailwater depth. The major parameters for the present study are upstream flow depth, tailwater gate height, location of the screen together with the supercritical upstream flow Froude number for a range covering from 5.0 to 22.5. The gate opening simulating a hydraulic structure is adjusted at heights of 2 cm and 3 cm during the study. The results of the experiments show that the tailwater depth has no significant additional contribution on the energy dissipation, whereas multiple screen arrangement dissipates more energy as compared to one double screen arrangement.

Renewable energy sources are getting much more important to reduce the increasing threat coming from greenhouse gases. Hydropower is the most important source of renewable energy. However, development of a hydropower project is a challenging engineering process. Several computer programs have been developed to make initial estimations on hydropower schemes. A computer program named RETScreen Small Hydro Project Model has been developed with the objective to make complete pre-feasibility studies including costing and financial analysis. Two case studies, which have been under construction in Turkey, will be used to check the accuracy of software in Turkish practice. Then in light of the results, RETScreen software will be used to make a pre-feasibility report on an existing multipurpose dam in Turkey. Electricity can be generated at existing dams which requires minor civil works. Porsuk Dam which is a 36 year old dam used for domestic, industrial and irrigation water supply will be evaluated for energy generation by constructing a penstock, powerhouse and installing electromechanical equipment.

Dams are important large structures providing vital benefits to human life. These strategic structures are necessary in order to supply water and energy and to control floods. Moreover, dams have important roles in regional development and national economy. Thus, the design of dams deserves rigorous studies. Deterministic approach may be acceptable for design of dams and may satisfy safety requirements if large safety factors are used. However, such an approach will not be cost-effective in economic terms. High safety factors utilized in deterministic approaches necessitates large dimensions. One remedy for this overestimation is integrating statistical information and techniques, such as Monte-Carlo simulations into the analysis and design of dams. Probabilistic approaches may result in more economical and reasonable designs. CADAM is a software program which allows the user to analyze dams using Monte-Carlo simulation technique. Uncertainties associated with tensile strength, peak cohesion, peak friction coefficient, normal upstream reservoir elevation, drain efficiency and horizontal peak ground acceleration are incorporated into stability and stress analysis using Monte-Carlo simulations. In this thesis, utilization of CADAM software is demonstrated on a case study. Cindere dam is evaluated in terms of structural safety

This study is an assessment of a hydraulic solution not only rescues Hasankeyf with countless ancient monuments from inundation but also supplies the foreseen energy production of the Ilisu Dam and HEPP Project. An alternative composed of five dams on the Tigris River and its branches was developed as a result of the conducted hydro-meteorological, water potential, flood analysis and optimization studies considering the topographical and geological characteristics of the proposed dam locations. While there is a 27 percent decrease in the overall reservoir area compared to the existing project, 4426.1 hm3 of water can be stored in these dams with a fill volume of 14.8 hm3. Over this storage, determined according to the maximum water levels designated by considering the upstream schemes developed by General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSI), General Directorate of Electrical Power Resources Survey and Development Administration (EIE) and incorporated companies according to Law No.4628, a volume of 3634.4 hm3 can be used as active storage. In the fully developed upstream stage, according to the conducted consecutive operation studies, while the existing project has an energy production capacity of 3094.3 GWh/year, the proposed project is capable of providing 3139.1 GWh/year with a smaller installed power although there is a slight decrease in the produced firm energy.

Hydroelectric power is a commonly used alternative source of energy in developing countries. In this regard, concrete gravity dams are the most preferred dam type especially with the developments in the engineering industry. Roller compacted concrete became more popular in dam construction due to its advantages of speed and economy. Several methods are used for the design of concrete gravity dams by analyzing the dam response under static and dynamic loads. This study provides three dimensional linear dynamic analysis of roller compacted concrete gravity dam with a complete dam-foundation-water interaction by using EACD-3D-08 program. Foundation flexibility was included with damping and mass using boundary elements. Three dimensional solid elements were used for the idealization of the dam and water with using finite element methods. Compressibility of water with reservoir absorption was studied. In the light of USACE, performance criteria of linear analyses were assessed. Parametric study was conducted to determine the most influential parameters on the dam response. The importance and necessity of three dimensional analyses were investigated by comparing with linear two dimensional analyses. Linear analyses were then compared with three dimensional nonlinear analyses. In conclusion, the realistic dam seismic response can only be obtained by using three dimensional linear analyses with full interaction of dam-foundation-water.

Tyrolean type water-intake structures are widely used on mountain rivers to provide water to hydropower stations. The main concern encountered in these kinds of structures is the amount of water diverted from the main channel and sediment carried by this flow. The diverted flow should not be less than the design discharge of the hydropower station and the amount of the sediment entering the hydraulic system should be minimum. In this study a physical model of a Tyrolean weir was constructed at the Hydromechanics Laboratory and by varying the dimensions of the various components of this system / the length, the inclination angle of the rack and the distance between the rack bars, the amount of water and sediment entering the system were measured for a wide range of discharges. The experiments were conducted in two stages. In the first stage the tests were made with only water, and in the second stage, water and sediment having different gradation were used. Applying dimensional analysis to the related parameters of the system dimensionless terms were defined for water capture efficiency and discharge coefficient of the system, and their variations with the relevant parameters were plotted. Using these diagrams one can determine the amount of water to be diverted by a Tyrolean weir of known geometry and main channel flow.

Multi-purpose project requirements lead to construction of large dams. In order to maintain the desired safety level of such dams, comprehensive inspections based on use of a number of precise instruments are needed. The ideal dam instrumentation system should provide time-dependent information about critical parameters so that possible future behavior of the structure can be predicted. New dams are normally equipped with adequate instrumentation systems. Most of the existing dams, however, do not have adequate instruments or current instrumentation systems may not be in good condition. By implementing the modern equipment to existing dams, the uncertainty associated with the impacts of aging or unexpected severe external events will be reduced and possible remedial measures can be taken accordingly. This study summarizes the major causes of dam failures and introduces the instruments to be used to monitor the key parameters of a dam. The concept of the instrument retrofitting to an unmonitored dam is highlighted through a case study. A sample system is proposed for G&ouml / k&ccedil / ekaya Dam, with reference to an investigation of the current condition of the structure. The deficiencies observed during a site visit are listed and the corresponding rehabilitative repair measures are suggested. Finally, different alternatives of a new instrumentation system are introduced and compared in terms of technical and economical aspects.