• 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.

• 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.16 no.3
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• pp.429-448
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• 2015

The dams are huge structures storing a large amount of water and failures of them cause especially irreparable loss of lives during the earthquakes. They are named as a group of structures subjected to fluid-structure interaction. So, the response of the fluid and its hydrodynamic pressures on the dam should be reflected more accurately in the structural analyses to determine the real behavior as soon as possible. Different mathematical and analytical modelling approaches can be used to calculate the water hydrodynamic pressure effect on the dam body. In this paper, it is aimed to determine the dynamic response of concrete gravity dams using different water modelling approaches such as Westergaard, Lagrange and Euler. For this purpose, Sariyar concrete gravity dam located on the Sakarya River, which is 120km to the northeast of Ankara, is selected as a case study. Firstly, the main principals and basic formulation of all approaches are given. After, the finite element models of the dam are constituted considering dam-reservoir-foundation interaction using ANSYS software. To determine the structural response of the dam, the linear transient analyses are performed using 1992 Erzincan earthquake ground motion record. In the analyses, element matrices are computed using the Gauss numerical integration technique. The Newmark method is used in the solution of the equation of motions. Rayleigh damping is considered. At the end of the analyses, dynamic characteristics, maximum displacements, maximum-minimum principal stresses and maximum-minimum principal strains are attained and compared with each other for Westergaard, Lagrange and Euler approaches.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.221-234
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• 2019

Today, many important concrete face rockfill dams (CFRDs) have been built on the world, and some of these important structures are located on the strong seismic regions. In this reason, examination and monitoring of these water construction's seismic behaviour is very important for the safety and future of these dams. In this study, the nonlinear seismic behaviour of Ilısu CFR dam which was built in Turkey in 2017, is investigated for various reservoir water heights taking into account 1995 Kobe near-fault and far-fault ground motions. Three dimensional (3D) finite difference model of the dam is created using the FLAC3D software that is based on the finite difference method. The most suitable mesh range for the 3D model is chosen to achieve the realistic numerical results. Mohr-Coulomb nonlinear material model is used for the rockfill materials and foundation in the seismic analyses. Moreover, Drucker-Prager nonlinear material model is considered for the concrete slab to represent the nonlinearity of the concrete. The dam body, foundation and concrete slab constantly interact during the lifetime of the CFRDs. Therefore, the special interface elements are defined between the dam body-concrete slab and dam body-foundation due to represent the interaction condition in the 3D model. Free field boundary condition that was used rarely for the nonlinear seismic analyses, is considered for the lateral boundaries of the model. In addition, quiet artificial boundary condition that is special boundary condition for the rigid foundation in the earthquake analyses, is used for the bottom of the foundation. The hysteric damping coefficients are separately calculated for all of the materials. These special damping values is defined to the FLAC3D software using the special fish functions to capture the effects of the variation of the modulus and damping ratio with the dynamic shear-strain magnitude. Total 4 different reservoir water heights are taken into account in the seismic analyses. These water heights are empty reservoir, 50 m, 100 m and 130 m (full reservoir), respectively. In the nonlinear seismic analyses, near-fault and far-fault ground motions of 1995 Kobe earthquake are used. According to the numerical analyses, horizontal displacements, vertical displacements and principal stresses for 4 various reservoir water heights are evaluated in detail. Moreover, these results are compared for the near-fault and far-faults earthquakes. The nonlinear seismic analysis results indicate that as the reservoir height increases, the nonlinear seismic behaviour of the dam clearly changes. Each water height has different seismic effects on the earthquake behaviour of Ilısu CFR dam. In addition, it is obviously seen that near-fault earthquakes and far field earthquakes create different nonlinear seismic damages on the nonlinear earthquake behaviour 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.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.119-131
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• 2019

Time dependent creep settlements are one of the most important causes of material deteriorations for the huge water structures such as concrete faced rockfill dams (CFRDs). For this reason, performing creep analyses of CFRDs is vital important for monitoring and evaluating of the future and safety of such dams. In this study, it is observed how changes viscoplastic behaviour of a CFR dam depending the time. Ilısu dam that is the longest concrete faced rockfill dam (1775 m) in the world is selected for the three dimensional (3D) analyses. 3D finite difference model of Ilısu dam is modelled using FLAC3D software based on the finite difference method. Two different special creep material models are considered in the numerical analyses. Wipp-creep viscoplastic material model and burger-creep viscoplastic material model were rarely used for the creep analyses of CFRDs in the last are taken into account for the concrete slab and rockfill materials-foundation, respectively. Moreover, interface elements are defined between the concrete slab-rockfill materials and rockfill materials-foundation to provide interaction condition for 3D model. Firstly, dam and foundation are collapsed under its self-weight and static behaviour of the dam is evaluated for the empty reservoir conditions. Then, reservoir water is modelled considering maximum water level of the dam and time-dependent creep analyses are performed for maximum reservoir condition. In this paper, maximum principal stresses, vertical-horizontal displacements and pore pressures that may occur on the dam body surface during 30 years (from 2017 to 2047) are evaluated in detail. According to numerical analyses, empty and maximum reservoir conditions of Ilısu dam are compared with each other in detail. 4 various nodal points are selected under the concrete slab to better seen viscoplastic behaviour changes of the dam and viscoplastic behaviour differences of these points during 30 years are graphically presented. It is clearly seen that horizontal-vertical displacements and principal stresses for maximum reservoir condition are more than the empty reservoir condition of the dam and significant pore pressures are observed during 30 years for maximum reservoir condition. In addition, horizontal-vertical displacements, principal stresses and pore pressures for 4 nodal points obviously increased until a certain time and changes decreased after this time.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.1221-1230
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• 2008

Inflatable rubber dams are used for controlling flood, impounding water for recreations, preventing beach erosions, diverting water for irrigations, and generating hydropower. They are long, flexible, inflated with air, cylindrical structures on a rigid horizontal foundation such as concrete. The dam is modeled as an elastic shell inflated with air. The mechanical behaviors of the inflated dam model were investigated by using the finite element method. The analysis process such as One Way Coupling Fluid-Structure Interaction consists of two steps. First, the influences of the fluid side were investigated, viz, the shape changes of the inflated rubber dam due to the fluid motions was captured when the height of the dam was 30cm with air pressure 0.01MPa, at which the pressure distributions over the surface of the dam were calculated. And next, the structural deformations were calculated using the pressure distributions. The initial inlet velocity for flow field was set to 0.1m/s. The structural deformation behaviors were investigated. The final research goal is to develop a Korean Inflatable Rubber Dam to be used for generating small hydropower.

• 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.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.529-541
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• 2016

Under the interaction between dam body, dam foundation and external environment, the dam structural behavior presents the time-varying nonlinear characteristics. According to the prototypical observations, the correct identification on above nonlinear characteristics is very important for dam safety control. It is difficult to implement the description, analysis and diagnosis for dam structural behavior by use of any linear method. Based on the rescaled range analysis approach, the algorithm is proposed to identify and extract the fractal feature on observed dam structural behavior. The displacement behavior of one actual dam is taken as an example. The fractal long-range correlation for observed displacement behavior is analyzed and revealed. The feasibility and validity of the proposed method is verified. It is indicated that the mechanism evidence can be provided for the prediction and diagnosis of dam structural behavior by using the fractal identification method. The proposed approach has a high potential for other similar applications.

• 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.