In the Xiaowan arch dam there are massive temperature cracks nearly parallel to the dam axis. Obviously, whether the cracks may spread or not during the water storage process is one of the crucial factors for the safety of a dam. In this paper, a new type of crack element, in which the contact component is implicitly included into the concrete component, is proposed to simulate the effects of the existing cracks. The crack element is proved by numerical example to share the merits of both conventional contact elements and joint elements. With a finite element model of the cracked arch dam together with its rock foundation established, the transient displacement and stress fields of the dam are obtained. The complicated rock foundation, the construction process of the arch dam, the massive cracks, the transient temperature field, as well as the water storage process have been taken into consideration in the simulation. In addition to the global model, several sub-models for typical crack tips are also generated with finer elements placed around the tips. Thus, more accurate displacement and stress distribution are obtained by simultaneous sub-model simulation. Based on the calculation of stress intensity factor for crack tips by extension method, the temperature cracks in the Xiaowan arch dam are finally proved to be stable. In the Xiaowan arch dam there are massive temperature cracks nearly parallel to the dam axis. Obviously, whether the cracks may spread or not during the water storage process is one of the crucial factors for the safety of a dam. type of crack element, in which the contact component is implicitly included into the concrete component, is proposed to simulate the effects of the existing cracks. The crack element is proved by numerical example to share the merits of both conventional contact elements and joint elements. With a finite element model of the cracked arch dam together with its rock foundation established, the transient displacement and stress fields of the dam are obtained. The complicated rock foundation, the construction process of the arch dam, the massive cracks, the transient temperature field , as well as the water storage process have been taken into consideration in the simulation. In addition to the global model, several sub-models for typical crac k tips are also generated with finer elements placed around the tips. Thus, more accurate displacement and stress distribution are obtained by simultaneous sub-model simulation. Based on the calculation of stress intensity factor for crack tips by extension method, the temperature cracks in the Xiaowan arch dam are finally proved to be stable.