Incremental dynamic analysis of concrete gravity dams including base and lift joints

The growth in computer processing power has made it possible to use time-consuming analysis methods such as incremental dynamic analysis（IDA） with higher accuracy in less time.In an IDA study,a series of earthquake records are applied to a structure at successively increasing intensity levels,which causes the structure to shift from the elastic state into the inelastic state and finally into collapse.In this way,the limit-states and capacity of a structure can be determined.In the present research,the IDA of a concrete gravity dam considering a nonlinear concrete behavior,and sliding planes within the dam body and at the dam-foundation interface,is performed.The influence of the friction angle and lift joint slope on the response parameters are investigated and the various limit-states of the dam are recognized.It is observed that by introducing a lift joint,the tensile damage can be avoided for the dam structure.The lift joint sliding is essentially independent of the base joint friction angle and the upper ligament over the inclined lift joint slides into the upstream direction in strong earthquakes.

Reliability and sensitivity analysis of wedge stability in the abutments of an arch dam using artificial neural network

In this study,the seismic stability of arch dam abutments is investigated within the framework of the probabilistic method.A large concrete arch dam is considered with six wedges for each abutment.The seismic safety of the dam abutments is studied with quasi-static analysis for different hazard levels.The Londe limit equilibrium method is utilized to calculate the stability of the wedges in the abutments.Since the finite element method is time-consuming,the neural network is used as an alternative for calculating the wedge safety factor.For training the neural network,1000 random samples are generated and the dam response is calculated.The direction of applied acceleration is changed within 5-degree intervals to reveal the critical direction corresponding to the minimum safety factor.The Latin hypercube sampling(LHS)is employed for sample generation,and the safety level is determined with reliability analysis.Three sample numbers of 1000,2000 and 4000 are used to examine the average and standard deviation of the results.The global sensitivity analysis is used to identify the effects of random variables on the abutment stability.It is shown that friction,cohesion and uplift pressure have the most significant effects on the wedge stability variance.

Evaluation of seismic reliability of gravity dam-reservoirinhomogeneous foundation coupled system

The seismic performance of gravity dam-reservoir-foundation coupled system is investigated utilizing probabilistic approach.In this research,the uncertainties associated with modeling parameters are incorporated in nonlinear response history simulations to realistically quantify their effects on the seismic performance of the system.The methodology is applied to Pine Flat gravity dam and the foundation is considered to be inhomogeneous assuming a constant spatial geometry but with various rock material properties.The sources of uncertainty are taken into account in the reliability analysis using Latin Hypercube Sampling procedure.The effects of the deconvolution process,number of samples,and foundation inhomogeneity are investigated.

Risk-based probabilistic thermal-stress analysis of concrete arch dams

The probabilistic risk of arch dam failure under thermal loading is studied. The incorporated uncertainties, which are defined as random variables, are associated with the most affecting structural (material) properties o f concrete and thermal loading conditions. Karaj arch dam is selected as case study. The dam is numerically modeled along with its foundation in three-dimensional space;the temperature and thermal stress distribution is investigated during the operating phase. The deterministic thermal finite element analysis o f the dam is combined with the structural reliability methods in order to obtain thermal response predictions, and estimate the probability o f failure in the risk analysis context. The tensile overstressing failure mode is considered for the reliability analysis. The thermal loading includes ambient air and reservoir temperature variations. The effect o f solar radiation is considered by an increase in the ambient temperatures. Three reliability methods are employed: the first-order second-moment method, the first-order reliability method, and the Monte-Carlo simulation with Latin Hypercube sampling. The estimated failure probabilities are discussed and the sensitivity o f random variables is investigated. Although most of the studies in this line o f research are used only for academic purposes, the results of this investigation can be used for both academic and engineering purposes.