Seismic analysis of a concrete face rockfill dam

Abstract eng:
Concrete face rockfill dam (CFRD) is a highly preferred choice among different structural systems for dams due to its comparative advantages of lower cost and faster construction. The need to conduct seismic assessment and evaluation studies for CFRDs is becoming crucial as engineers are choosing this alternative in seismic regions. Apart from the challenges involved in the seismic analysis of a standard dam-reservoir-foundation interaction problem, a new set of parameters are added in the case of CFRDs, namely the behavior of the concrete face plates and the face plate-dam body interaction. Face plates serve as water proof barriers and are expected to undergo deformations within tolerable levels due to environmental stresses and change in the water levels during operation. However, as this type of dam was primarily a structural choice in aseismic regions, the evaluation of plate deformations and joint openings for seismic effects are hardly part of the design procedures of these systems. For permissible seepage between joints and to protect the dam body after an earthquake, it is essential that plate to plate and plate to rockfill relative deformations are investigated and are shown to remain leak-proof. In this work, nonlinear dynamic analysis of a CFRD is conducted with the two main purposes:1)To understand the behavior and interaction of the face plate with the dam body 2) To provide a better understanding for expected plate openings at the cold joints and create a better set of design assumptions for CFRDs under seismic risk. These issues are investigated using special interface elements with appropriate material models that in effect model the opening and closing of the joints in normal and transverse directions. The effects of the level of water in the reservoir, the directivity and the magnitude of the earthquake are discussed.

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