Comparing Recorded Earthquake Signals of MS Embankment Dam with Numerical Modeling Results

Abstract eng:
Some earth dams in seismic areas have experienced damage or partial failure during earthquakes. It is recommended to use the results of recorded earthquake signals on embankment dams to verify the mathematical models used in design stage for a better prediction of dam behavior in the future. It should be mentioned that, obtained results from earthquake records are more useful than other in situ tests such as forced, ambient and explosion tests, since these in situ tests are concerned with vibrations of much smaller amplitude than those normally encountered in earthquakes. In this paper, the measured response of the Masjed Soleiman (MS) dam body (the highest embankment dam in Iran) during some small earthquakes was used. Based on the results of these records, the modal frequencies of the dam body were evaluated by using classical (such as FFT, power spectra density, cross spectra and coherency) and modern signal processing methods (time-frequency and wavelet methods). Using recorded earthquake signals in the basement of the dam as input excitation, dynamic analysis of the dam body was also performed and the results of the numerical modeling was compared with recorded earthquake signals on the dam body. The rigidity and flexibility effects of the foundation and abutments, their depths and inertial properties on the dynamic characteristics of the dam body were investigated. This comparison leads to more appropriate modeling of the dam body in earthquake loading condition.

• Export as: BibTeX | MARC | MARCXML | DC | EndNote | NLM | RefWorks
• Add to your basket