NEHRP Clearinghouse

Title
Nonlinear Earthquake Response of Concrete Gravity Dam Systems.
File
PB89193924.pdf
Author(s)
El-Aidi, B.
Source
National Science Foundation, Washington, DC., August 21, 1988, 202 p.
Identifying Number(s)
EERL-88-02
Abstract
The earthquake response of concrete gravity dam systems is investigated with emphasis on the nonlinear behavior associated with tensile concrete cracking and water cavitation. A single dam-monolith is considered and is assumed to respond independently as a two-dimensional system under plane stress conditions. The two-dimensional assumption is also extended to model the compressible water body impounded upstream of the dam. Standard displacement-based finite element techniques are used to spatially discretize the field equations and produce a single symmetric matrix equation for the dam-water system. Energy dissipation in the reservoir, through radiation in the infinite upstream direction and absorption at the bottom, is approximately accounted for, and a set of numerical examples is presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the present formulation in modeling the linear earthquake response of infinite reservoirs. An approximate procedure to account for dam-foundation interaction is incorporated based on the response of a rigid plate attached to a three-dimensional viscoelastic half-space.
Keywords
; Cracking (Fracturing); Mathematical models; Gravity dams; Viscoelasticity; Cavitation; Concrete structures; Tensile stress; Response; Displacement; Rigid foundations; Earthquakes