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Seismic safety evaluation of proposed or existing concrete dams requires analysis of a large three-dimensional finite element (FE) model of the dam including several factors: dam-water interaction, including water compressibility, reservoir bottom interaction, and the large extent of the reservoir in the upstream direction; dam-foundation interaction, including foundation inertial effects, material and radiation damping, and the semi-infinite extent of the foundation rock; and spatial variations in ground motion. Over the past three decades, research has conclusively demonstrated that these factors significantly influence the earthquake response of dams and must be rigorously treated.
Although dam-water-foundation interaction effects are rigorously treated in EAGD-84 and EACD-3D-96, these computer codes, resulting from our previous research, have several limitations: linear systems, homogeneous foundation rock, uniform canyon, and spatially-uniform ground motion, assumptions that are inappropriate for many practical situations. Thus, these programs cannot consider concrete cracking, dam sliding, or other nonlinear effects; non-homogeneous foundations or irregular reservoir geometry; spatial variations that invariably exist in ground motion around the canyon. All of these factors are often important in practical application. Furthermore, the EACD-3D-96 computer code for three-dimensional analysis cannot handle very large FE systems.
The objectives of this project are to develop efficient and accurate transient nonlinear three dimensional FE analysis of dams, including dam-foundation-fluid interaction effects using realistic models for foundation and fluid domains—subjected to spatially-varying ground motions. Such an analytical capability will be a major improvement beyond the present state of research and practice.
Completed Ph.D. student: Ushnish Basu, 2004
Post Doctoral Researcher: Ushnish Basu
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Dynamic Analysis Procedures for Performance-Based
Seismic Engineering of Buildings
Earthquake Analysis of Concrete Dams