Seismic effects of epicenter distance of earthquake on 3D damage performance of CG dams

Seismic damages that occurred by the effects of epicenter distance of the earthquake are one of the most important problems for the earthquake engineering. In this study, it is aimed to examine the nonlinear seismic behaviors of concrete gravity (CG) dams considering various epicenter distances. For this purpose, Boyabat CG dam that is one of the biggest concrete gravity dams in Turkey is selected as a numerical application. FLAC3D software based on finite difference method is used for modelling and analyzing of the dam. Drucker-Prager nonlinear material model is used for the concrete body and Mohr-Coulomb nonlinear material model is taken into account for the foundation. Special interface elements are used between dam body and foundation to represent interaction condition. Free-field and quiet non-reflecting boundary conditions are utilized for the main surfaces of 3D model. Total 5 various epicenter distances of 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake are considered in 3D earthquake analyses and these distances are 5 km, 11 km, 24 km, 85 km and 93 km, respectively. According to 3D seismic results, x-y-z displacements, principal stresses and shear strain failures of the dam are evaluated in detail. It is clearly seen from this study that the nonlinear seismic behaviors of the CG dams change depending to epicenter distance of the earthquake. Thus, it is clearly recommended in this study that when a CG dam is modelled or analyzed, distance of the earthquake fault to the dam should be strongly examined in detail. Otherwise, earthquake damages can be occurred in the concrete dam body by the effects of seismic loads