Experimental seismic investigation of Sefid‐rud concrete buttress dam model on shaking table

Owing to the devastating M7.6 earthquake of 20 June 1990 that occurred in the northern province of Iran, Sefid-rud concrete buttress dam located near the epicenter was severely shaken. The crack penetrated throughout the dam thickness near slope discontinuity, causing severe leakage, but with no general failure. In this study, nonlinear seismic response of the highest monolith with empty reservoir is investigated experimentally through model testing. A geometric-scaled model of 1:30 was tested on a shaking table with high-frequency capability to study dynamic cracking of the model and serve as data for nonlinear computer model calibration. Three construction joints are set up in the model to simulate effects of construction aspects. The experimental results are then compared with smeared crack and damage mechanics finite-element simulations using nonlinear concrete constitutive models based on fracture mechanics. The crack patterns obtained from numerical models are in good agreement with those obtained from shaking table tests for the case of including construction joint effects and rigid foundation.

[1]  Timothy P. Dolen,et al.  Shaking table 2‐D models of a concrete gravity dam , 2000 .

[2]  Zdeněk P. Bažant,et al.  Statistical prediction of fracture parameters of concrete and implications for choice of testing standard , 2002 .

[3]  Anthony Duncan Jefferson,et al.  Experimental Investigations into Seismic Failure of High Arch Dams , 2000 .

[4]  Colin Anthony Taylor,et al.  An experimental investigation into earthquake‐induced failure of medium to low height concrete gravity dams , 1995 .

[5]  H. Mirzabozorg,et al.  Non‐linear behavior of mass concrete in three‐dimensional problems using a smeared crack approach , 2005 .

[6]  Pierre Léger,et al.  APPLICATION OF NLFM MODELS TO PREDICT CRACKING IN CONCRETE GRAVITY DAMS , 1994 .

[7]  Zhengnong Li,et al.  Experimental and numerical seismic investigations of the Three Gorges dam , 2005 .

[8]  Pierre Léger,et al.  Seismic Safety of Gravity Dams: From Shake Table Experiments to Numerical Analyses , 2000 .

[9]  Mohsen Ghaemian,et al.  Large-scale testing on specific fracture energy determination of dam concrete , 2006 .

[10]  R. Borst,et al.  Non-orthogonal cracks in a smeared finite element model , 1985 .

[11]  Ahmed Ghobarah,et al.  Experimental Study of Small Scale Dam Models , 1998 .

[12]  John F. Hall,et al.  Shaking table study of concrete gravity dam monoliths , 1991 .

[13]  Colin Anthony Taylor,et al.  AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE BASE SLIDING RESPONSE OF RIGID CONCRETE GRAVITY DAMS TO DYNAMIC LOADING , 1996 .