• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.393-414
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• 2019

This paper presents seismic analysis of concrete gravity dams considering soil-structure-fluid interaction. Displacement based plane strain finite element formulation is considered for the dam and foundation domain whereas pressure based finite element formulation is considered for the reservoir domain. A direct coupling method has been adopted to obtain the interaction effects among the dam, foundation and reservoir domain to obtain the dynamic responses of the dam. An efficient absorbing boundary condition has been implemented at the truncation surfaces of the foundation and reservoir domains. A parametric study has been carried out considering each domain separately and collectively based on natural frequencies, crest displacement and stress at the neck level of the dam body. The combined frequency of the entire coupled system is very less than that of the each individual sub-system. The crest displacement and neck level stresses of the dam shows prominent enhancement when coupling effect is taken into consideration. These outcomes suggest that a complete coupled analysis is necessary to obtain the actual responses of the concrete gravity dam. The developed methodology can easily be implemented in finite element code for analyzing the coupled problem to obtain the desired responses of the individual subdomains.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.499-511
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• 2010

This paper examines the ice cover effects on the seismic response of concrete gravity dam-reservoir-foundation interaction systems subjected to a horizontal earthquake ground motion. ANSYS program is used for finite element modeling and analyzing the ice-dam-reservoir-foundation interaction system. The ice-dam-reservoir interaction system is considered by using the Lagrangian (displacementbased) fluid and solid-quadrilateral-isoparametric finite elements. The Sariyar concrete gravity dam in Turkey is selected as a numerical application. The east-west component of Erzincan earthquake, which occurred on 13 March 1992 in Erzincan, Turkey, is selected for the earthquake analysis of the dam. Dynamic analyses of the dam-reservoir-foundation interaction system are performed with and without ice cover separately. Parametric studies are done to show the effects of the variation of the length, thickness, elasticity modulus and density of the ice-cover on the seismic response of the dam. It is observed that the variations of the length, thickness, and elasticity modulus of the ice-cover influence the displacements and stresses of the coupled system considerably. Also, the variation of the density of the ice-cover cannot produce important effects on the seismic response of the dam.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.349-364
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• 2014

Perfectly matched layers are employed in time harmonic analysis of dam-foundation systems. The Lysmer boundary condition at the truncation boundary of the PML region has been incorporated in the formulation of the dam-foundation FE model (including PML). The PML medium is defined in a way that the formulation of the system can be transformed into time domain. Numerical experiments show that applying Lysmer boundary conditions at the truncation boundary of the PML area reduces the computational cost and make the PML approach a more efficient technique for the analysis of dam-foundation systems.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.85-110
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• 2013

Generally, mass concrete structural behavior is governed by the strain components. However, relevant guidelines in dam engineering evaluate the structural behavior of concrete dams using stress-based criteria. In the present study, strain-based criteria are proposed for the first time in a professional manner and their applicability in seismic failure evaluation of an arch dam are investigated. Numerical model of the dam is provided using NSAD-DRI finite element code and the foundation is modeled to be massed using infinite elements at its far-end boundaries. The coupled dam-reservoir-foundation system is solved in Lagrangian-Eulerian domain using Newmark-${\beta}$ time integration method. Seismic performance of the dam is investigated using parameters such as the demand-capacity ratio, the cumulative inelastic duration and the extension of the overstressed/overstrained areas. Real crack profile of the dam based on the damage mechanics approach is compared with those obtained from stress-based and strain-based approaches. It is found that using stress-based criteria leads to conservative results for arch action while seismic safety evaluation using the proposed strain-based criteria leads to conservative cantilever action.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.179-199
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• 2016

The aim of this study is to investigate arrival direction effects of travelling waves on non-linear seismic response of arch dams. It is evident that the seismic waves may reach on the dam site from any direction. Therefore, this study considers the seismic waves arrive to the dam site with different angles, ${\theta}=0^{\circ}$, $15^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$, $60^{\circ}$, $75^{\circ}$, and $90^{\circ}$ for non-linear analysis of arch dam-water-foundation interaction system. The N-S, E-W and vertical component of the Erzincan earthquake, on March 13, 1992, is used as the ground motion. Dam-water-foundation interaction is defined by Lagrangian approach in which a step-by-step integration technique is employed. The stress-strain behavior of the dam concrete is idealized using three-dimensional Drucker-Prager model based on associated flow rule assumption. The program NONSAP is employed in response calculations. The time-history of crest displacements and stresses of the dam are presented. The results obtained from non-linear analyses are compared with that of linear analyses.

• 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.

• 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.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.231-244
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• 2017

This paper presents the structural identification of an arch dam model for the damaged, repaired and strengthened conditions under different water levels. For this aim, an arch dam-reservoir-foundation model has been constructed. Ambient vibration tests have been performed on the damaged, repaired and strengthened dam models for the empty reservoir (0 cm), 10 cm, 20 cm, 30 cm, 40 cm, 50 cm and full reservoir (60 cm) water levels to illustrate the effects of water levels on the dynamics characteristics. Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition Method in the frequency domain has been used to extract the dynamic characteristics. The dynamic characteristics obtained from the damaged, repaired and strengthened dam models show that the natural frequencies and damping ratios are considerably affected from the varying water level. The maximum differences between the frequencies for the empty and full reservoir are obtained as 16%, 33%, and 25% for damaged, repaired and strengthened model respectively. Mode shapes obtained from the all models are not affected by the increasing water level. Also, after the repairing and strengthening implementations, the natural frequencies of the arch dam model increase significantly. After strengthening, between 46-92% and 43-62% recovery in the frequencies are calculated for empty and full reservoir respectively. Apparently, after strengthening implementation, the mode shapes obtained are more acceptable and distinctive compared to those for the damaged model.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.137-150
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• 2005

Dynamic analysis of dam-reservoir-foundation system is usually carried out by employing a simplified and approximate one-dimensional model to account for fluid-foundation interaction. The approximation introduced on this basis is examined thoroughly in this paper by comparing the method with the rigorous approach. It is concluded that the errors due to approximate method could be very significant both for horizontal and vertical ground motions.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.195-206
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• 2016

Dams play a vital role in the development and sustainment in a country. Failure of dams leads to the catastrophic event with sudden release of water and is of great concern. Hence earthquake-resistant design of dams is of prime importance. The present study involves static, modal and transient analyses of dam-reservoir-foundation system using finite element software ANSYS 15. The dam and the foundation are modeled with 2D plane strain element "PLANE 42" and the reservoir by fluid acoustic element "FLUID 29" with proper consideration of fluid-structure interaction. An expression for the fundamental period of concrete dams is developed based on modal analysis. Seismic response of gravity dams subjected to earthquake acceleration is evaluated in terms of peak displacement and stress.