Dynamic response analysis for high rockfill dam considering the dependency of material dynamic properties on confining pressure

Since the material dynamic properties of rockfill are strongly dependent on the confining pressure,the adoption of material parameters for single confining pressure in dynamic response analysis for high rockfill dam may result in significant error.An improved approach taking the effect of confining pressure and stress distribution into account is proposed.In this approach the confining-pressure-interpolating curves are introduced to determine the nonlinear properties of each rockfill element based on test data by linear interpolation or extrapolation.Then,the dynamic equivalent linear FEM is applied to determine the dynamic response of dam.The comparison of calculation results show that the approach comprehensively considering the effects of stress distribution and the dependency of material dynamic parameters variation on confining pressure gives the more accurate assessment of the acceleration,dynamic parameters distribution and permanent deformation as well as the aseismic performance index of the rockfill dam.