• Computers and Concrete
• /
• 제18권2호
• /
• pp.179-199
• /
• 2016

The aim of this study is to investigate arrival direction effects of travelling waves on non-linear seismic response of arch dams. It is evident that the seismic waves may reach on the dam site from any direction. Therefore, this study considers the seismic waves arrive to the dam site with different angles, ${\theta}=0^{\circ}$, $15^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$, $60^{\circ}$, $75^{\circ}$, and $90^{\circ}$ for non-linear analysis of arch dam-water-foundation interaction system. The N-S, E-W and vertical component of the Erzincan earthquake, on March 13, 1992, is used as the ground motion. Dam-water-foundation interaction is defined by Lagrangian approach in which a step-by-step integration technique is employed. The stress-strain behavior of the dam concrete is idealized using three-dimensional Drucker-Prager model based on associated flow rule assumption. The program NONSAP is employed in response calculations. The time-history of crest displacements and stresses of the dam are presented. The results obtained from non-linear analyses are compared with that of linear analyses.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• 제1권3호
• /
• pp.227-237
• /
• 2013

Modal testing, widely accepted and applied method for determining the dynamic characteristics of structures for operational conditions, uses known or unknown vibrations in structures. The method's common applications includes estimation of dynamic characteristics and also damage detection and monitoring of structural performance. In this study, the structural identification of concrete arch dams is determined using ambient vibration tests which is one of the modal testing methods. For the purpose, several ambient vibration tests are conducted to an arch dam. Sensitive accelerometers were placed on the different points of the crest and a gallery of the dam, and signals are collected for the process. Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition technique is used for the extraction of natural frequencies, mode shapes and damping ratios. A total of eight natural frequencies are attained by experimentally for each test setup, which ranges between 0-12 Hz. The results obtained from each ambient vibration tests are presented and compared with each other in detail. There is a good agreement between the results for all measurements. However, the theoretical fundamental frequency of Berke Arch Dam is a little different from the experimental.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• 제32권5호
• /
• pp.319-338
• /
• 2023

The study presents a new hybrid data-driven method by combining radial basis functions neural networks (RBF-NN) with the Jaya algorithm (JA) to provide effective structural health monitoring of arch dams. The novelty of this approach lies in that only one user-defined parameter is required and thus can increase its effectiveness and efficiency, as compared to other machine learning techniques that often require processing a large amount of training and testing model parameters and hyper-parameters, with high time-consuming. This approach seeks rapid damage detection in arch dams under dynamic conditions, to prevent potential disasters, by utilizing the RBF-NNN to seamlessly integrate the dynamic elastic modulus (DEM) and modal parameters (such as natural frequency and mode shape) as damage indicators. To determine the dynamic characteristics of the arch dam, the JA sequentially optimizes an objective function rooted in vibration-based data sets. Two case studies of hyperbolic concrete arch dams were carefully designed using finite element simulation to demonstrate the effectiveness of the RBF-NN model, in conjunction with the Jaya algorithm. The testing results demonstrated that the proposed methods could exhibit significant computational time-savings, while effectively detecting damage in arch dam structures with complex nonlinearities. Furthermore, despite training data contaminated with a high level of noise, the RBF-NN and JA fusion remained the robustness, with high accuracy.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• 제22권3호
• /
• pp.351-370
• /
• 2006

In this study, the earthquake damage response of the concrete arch dams was investigated including dam-reservoir interaction. A continuum damage model which is a second-order tensor and includes the strain softening behavior was selected for the concrete material. Fluid-structure interaction problem was modeled by Lagrangian approach. Sommerfeld radiation condition was applied to the truncated boundary of reservoir. The improved form of the HHT-${\alpha}$ time integration algorithm was used in the solution of the equations of motion. The arch dam Type 5 was selected for numerical application. For the dynamic input, acceleration records of the 10 December 1967 Koyna earthquake were chosen. These records were scaled with earthquake acceleration scale factor (EASF) and then used in the analyses. Solutions were obtained for empty and full reservoir cases. The effects of EASF and damping ratio on the response of the dam were studied.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• 제14권5호
• /
• pp.599-612
• /
• 2014

This paper presents the effects of the construction stages using time dependent material properties on the structural behaviour of concrete arch dams. For this purpose, a double curvature Type-5 arch dam suggested in "Arch Dams" symposium in England in 1968 is selected as a numerical example. Finite element models of Type-5 arch dam are modelled using SAP2000 program. Geometric nonlinearity is taken into consideration in the construction stage analysis using P-Delta plus large displacement criterion. In addition, the time dependent material strength variations and geometric variations are included in the analysis. Elasticity modulus, creep and shrinkage are computed for different stages of the construction process. In the construction stage analyses, a total of 64 construction stages are included. Each stage has generally $6000m^3$ concrete volume. Total duration is taken into account as 1280 days. Maximum total step and maximum iteration for each step are selected as 200 and 50, respectively. The structural behaviour of the arch dam at different construction stages has been examined. Two different finite element analyses cases are performed. In the first case, construction stages using time dependent material properties are considered. In the second case, only linear static analysis (not considered construction stages) is taken into account. Variation of the displacements and stresses are obtained from the both analyses. It is highlighted that construction stage analysis using time dependent material strength variations and geometric variations has an important effect on the structural behaviour of arch dams. The maximum longitudinal, transverse and vertical displacements obtained from construction stages and static analyses are 1.35 mm and 0 mm; -8.44 and 6.68 mm; -4.00 and -9.90 mm, respectively. In addition, vertical displacements increase from the base to crest of the dam for both analyses. The maximum S11, S22 and S33 stresses are obtained as 1.60MPa and 2.84MPa; 1.39MPa and 2.43MPa; 0.60MPa and 0.50MPa, respectively. The differences between maximum longitudinal, transverse, and vertical stresses obtained from construction stage and static analyses are 78%, 75%, and %17, respectively. On the other hand, there is averagely 12% difference between minimum stresses for all three directions.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• 제12권1호
• /
• pp.65-77
• /
• 2013

This paper examines the dynamic response of an arch dam subjected to blast loading. A damage model is developed for three dimensional analysis of arch dams. The modified Drucker-Prager criterion is adopted as the failure criteria of the damage evolution in concrete. Then, Xiluodu arch dam serves as an example to simulate the failure behaviors of structures with the proposed model. The results obtained using the proposed model can reveal the reliability degree of the safe operation level of the high arch dam system as well as the degree of potential failure, providing a reliable basis for risk assessment and risk control.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• 제68권6호
• /
• pp.747-760
• /
• 2018

In the present study, a methodology for developing fragilities of arch concrete dams to assess their performance against seismic hazards is introduced. Firstly, the probability risk and fragility curves are presented, followed by implementation and representation of the way this method is used. Amirkabir arch concrete dam was subjected to non-linear dynamic analyses. A modified three dimensional rotating smeared crack model was used to take the nonlinear behavior of mass concrete into account. The proposed model considers major characteristics of mass concrete. These characteristics are pre-softening behavior, softening initiation criteria, fracture energy conservation, suitable damping mechanism and strain rate effect. In the present analysis, complete fluid-structure interaction is included to account for appropriate fluid compressibility and absorptive reservoir boundary conditions. In this study, the Amirkabir arch concrete dam is subjected to a set of 8 three-component earthquakes each scaled to 10 increasing intensity levels. Using proposed nonlinear smeared crack model, nonlinear analysis is performed where the structure is subjected to a large set of scaled and un-scaled ground motions and the maximum responses are extracted for each one and plotted. Based on the results, fragility curves were plotted according to various and possible damages indexes. Discrete damage probabilities were calculated using statistical methods for each considered performance level and incremental nonlinear analysis. Then, fragility curves were constructed based on the lognormal distribution assumption. Two damage indexes were introduced and compared to one another. The results indicate that the dam has a proper stability under earthquake conditions at MCE level. Moreover, displacement damages index is more conservative and impractical in the fragility analysis than tensional damage index.

• Coupled systems mechanics
• /
• 제7권3호
• /
• pp.353-371
• /
• 2018

The Wavenumber or more accurately Wavenumber-FD approach was initially introduced for two-dimensional dynamic analysis of concrete gravity dam-reservoir systems. The technique was formulated in the context of pure finite element programming in frequency domain. Later on, a variation of the method was proposed which was referred to as Wavenumber-TD approach suitable for time domain type of analysis. Recently, it is also shown that Wavenumber-FD approach may be applied for three-dimensional dynamic analysis of concrete arch dam-reservoir systems. In the present study, application of its variation (i.e., Wavenumber-TD approach) is investigated for three-dimensional problems. The method is initially described. Subsequently, the response of idealized Morrow Point arch dam-reservoir system is obtained by this method and its special cases (i.e., two other well-known absorbing conditions) for time harmonic excitation in stream direction. All results for various considered cases are compared against the exact response for models with different values of normalized reservoir length and reservoir base/sidewalls absorptive conditions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• 제37권6호
• /
• pp.593-615
• /
• 2011

This study determines the water length effects on the modal behavior of a prototype arch dam using Operational and Analytical Modal Analyses. Achievement of this purpose involves construction of a prototype arch dam-reservoir-foundation model under laboratory conditions. In the model, reservoir length was taken to be as much as three times the dam height. To determine the experimental dynamic characteristics of the arch dam using Operational Modal Analysis, ambient vibration tests were implemented for empty reservoir and three different reservoir water lengths. In the ambient vibration tests, the dam was vibrated by natural excitations provided from small impact effects and the response signals were measured using sensitive accelerometers. Operational Modal Analysis software process signals collected from the ambient vibration tests, and Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition and Stochastic Subspace Identification techniques estimated modal parameters of the dams. To validate the experimental results, 3D finite element model of the prototype arch dam was modeled by ANSYS software for empty reservoir and three different reservoir water lengths, and dynamic characteristics of each model were determined analytically. At the end of the study, experimentally and analytically identified dynamic characteristics compared to each other. Also, changes on the natural frequencies along to water length are plotted as graphs. Results suggest that reservoir water complicates the modal behavior of the arch dam significantly.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
• /
• 제3권2호
• /
• pp.129-144
• /
• 2016

We present a methodology to validate with monitoring data finite element models of existing concrete dams: numerical analyses are performed to assess the structural response under the effects of seasonal loading conditions, represented by hydrostatic pressure on the upstream-downstream dam surfaces and thermal variations as recorded by a thermometers network. We show that the stiffness effect of the rock foundation and the surface degradation of concrete due to aging are crucial aspects to be accounted for a correct interpretation of the real behavior. This work summarizes some general procedures developed by this research group at Politecnico di Milano on traditional static monitoring systems and two significant case studies: a buttress gravity and an arch-gravity dam.