• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.65-79
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• 2011

Concrete hydraulic structures such as: Dams, Intake Towers, Piers and dock are usually recognized as" Vital and Special Structures" that must have sufficient safety margin at critical conditions like when earthquake occurred as same as normal servicing time. Hence, to evaluate hydrodynamic pressures generated due to seismic forces and Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI); introduction to fluid-structure domains and interaction between them are inevitable. For this purpose, first step is exact modeling of water-structure and their interaction conditions. In this paper, the basic equation involved the water-structure-foundation interaction and the effective factors are explained briefly for concrete hydraulic structure types. The finite element modeling of two concrete gravity dams with 5 m, 150 m height, reservoir water and foundation bed rock is idealized and then the effects of fluid domain and bed rock have been investigated on modal characteristic of dams. The analytical results obtained from numerical studies and modal analysis show that the accurate modeling of dam-reservoir-foundation and their interaction considerably affects the modal periods, mode shapes and modal hydrodynamic pressure distribution. The results show that the foundation bed rock modeling increases modal periods about 80%, where reservoir modeling changes modal shapes and increases the period of all modes up to 30%. Reservoir-dam-foundation interaction increases modal period from 30% to 100% for different cases.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.363-376
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• 2007

A FE-BE procedure is presented for dynamic analysis of concrete arch dams. In this technique, dam body is discretized by finite elements, while foundation rock is handled by three dimensional boundary element formulation. This would allow a rigorous inclusion of dam-foundation rock interaction, with no limitations imposed on geometry of canyon shape. Based on this method, a previously developed program is modified, and the response of Morrow Point arch dam is studied for various ratios of foundation rock to dam concrete elastic moduli under an empty reservoir condition. Furthermore, the effects of canyon shape on response of dam, is also discussed.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.251-266
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• 2014

Dynamic analyses for a suite of ground of motions were conducted on concrete gravity dam sections to examine the earthquake induced stresses and effective damping. For this purpose, frequency domain methods that rigorously incorporate dam-reservoir-foundation interaction and time domain methods with approximate hydrodynamic foundation interaction effects were employed. The maximum principal tensile stresses and their distribution at the dam base, which are important parameters for concrete dam design, were obtained using the frequency domain approach. Prediction equations were proposed for these stresses and their distribution at the dam base. Comparisons of the stress results obtained using frequency and time domain methods revealed that the dam height and ratio of modulus of elasticity of foundation rock to concrete are significant parameters that may influence earthquake induced stresses. A new effective damping prediction equation was proposed in order to estimate earthquake stresses accurately with the approximate time domain approach.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.285-296
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• 2020

Dams are important structures for management of water supply for irrigation or drinking, flood control, and electricity generation. In seismic regions, the structural safety of concrete gravity dams is important due to the high potential of life and economic loss if they fail. Therefore, the seismic analysis of existing dams in seismically active regions is crucial for predicting responses of dams to ground motions. In this paper, earthquake response of concrete gravity dams is investigated using the finite element (FE) method. The FE model accounts for dam-water-foundation rock interaction by considering compressible water, flexible foundation effects, and absorptive reservoir bottom materials. Several uncertainties regarding structural attributes of the dam and external actions are considered to obtain the fragility curves of the dam-water-foundation rock system. The structural uncertainties are sampled using the Latin Hypercube Sampling method. The Pine Flat Dam in the Central Valley of Fresno County, California, is selected to demonstrate the methodology for several limit states. The fragility curves for base sliding, and excessive deformation limit states are obtained by performing non-linear time history analyses. Tensile cracking including the complex state of stress that occurs in dams was also considered. Normal, Log-Normal and Weibull distribution types are considered as possible fits for fragility curves. It was found that the effect of the minimum principal stress on tensile strength is insignificant. It is also found that the probability of failure of tensile cracking is higher than that for base sliding of the dam. Furthermore, the loss of reservoir control is unlikely for a moderate earthquake.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.255-266
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• 2020

This study presents comparation of fixed and viscos boundary condition effects on three-dimensional earthquake response and performance of a RCC dam considering linear and non-linear response. For this purpose, Cine RCC dam constructed in Aydın, Turkey, is selected in applications. The Drucker-Prager material model is considered for concrete and foundation rock in the nonlinear time-history analyses. Besides, hydrodynamic effect was considered in linear and non-linear dynamic analyses for both conditions. The hydrodynamic pressure of the reservoir water is modeled with the fluid finite elements based on the Lagrangian approach. The contact-target element pairs were used to model the dam-foundation-reservoir interaction system. The interface between dam and foundation is modeled with welded contact for both fixed and viscos boundary conditions. The displacements and principle stress components obtained from the linear and non-linear analyses are compared each other for empty and full reservoir cases. Seismic performance analyses considering demand-capacity ratio criteria were also performed for each case. According to numerical analyses, the total displacements and besides seismic performance of the dam increase by the effect of the viscous boundary conditions. Besides, hydrodynamic pressure obviously decreases the performance of the dam.