Effect of foundation in dynamic analysis of concrete gravity dams

In this paper, nonlinear dynamic analysis of concrete gravity dams was studied. To investigate the effect of dam-reservoir-foundation interaction, a two-dimensional approach was used including the finite element method, and smeared crack approach. The dam-reservoir interaction is solved by staggered solution procedure while the Sharan boundary condition is applied at the reservoir’s far-end truncated boundary. The foundation is defined as a part of the structure and some different boundary conditions such as Lysmer, Boulder and damper boundary conditions are applied at its truncated boundaries. Results show that when the nonlinear analysis includes the dam foundation interaction and the foundation’s mass, flexibility and radiation damping, the gravity dam’s response will be acceptable.