Seismic Response of Renyitan Earth-Fill Dam

Taiwan is located at one of the earthquake-active zones. In 1999, a devastating 921 Chi-Chi earthquake struck Taiwan and caused severe property losses and thousands of lives. Excessive ground deformation caused severe crack to the Shigang concrete dam and resulted the dam to completely losses its ability to retain water. As such, assessing the safety of the water dams on the island has been emphasized. This study assessed the behavior of Renyitan dam using the acceleration record of Chi-Chi earthquake obtained some 2 km away as its input acceleration. Dynamic analyses were performed using the dynamic program FLAC^(2D) and results were evaluated from the viewpoint of displacement, excess pore-water pressure, and acceleration generated in the dam. Numerical results obtained confirmed that the generated excess pore-water pressures during the Chi-Chi earthquake were insufficient to cause the dam to liquefy or fail and pin-pointed the most likely location in the dam where liquefaction would be initiated. Strength improvement to the dam could be carried out at this weak area.

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