• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.411-442
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• 2008

Ground motions in near source region of large crustal earthquakes are significantly affected by rupture directivity and tectonic fling. These effects are the strongest at longer periods and they can have a significant impact on Engineering Structures. In this paper, it is aimed to determine near-fault ground motion effects on the nonlinear response of dams including dam-reservoir-foundation interaction. Four different types of dam, which are gravity, arch, concrete faced rockfill and clay core rockfill dams, are selected to investigate the near-fault ground motion effects on dam responses. The behavior of reservoir is taken into account by using Lagrangian approach. Strong ground motion records of Duzce (1999), Northridge (1994) and Erzincan (1992) earthquakes are selected for the analyses. Displacements, maximum and minimum principal stresses are determined by using the finite element method. The displacements and principal stresses obtained from the four different dam types subjected to these nearfault strong-ground motions are compared with each other. It is seen from the results that near-fault ground motions have different impacts on the dam types.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.401-419
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• 2010

This paper focuses on the development, verification and application of a three-dimensional nite element code for coupled thermal and structural analysis of roller compacted concrete arch dams. The Ostour Arch dam located on Ghezel-Ozan River, Iran, which was originally designed as conventional concrete arch dam, has been taken for the purpose of verication of the nite element code. In this project, RCC technology has been ascertained as an alternative method to reduce the cost of the project and make it competitive. The thermal analysis has been carried out taking into account the simulation of the sequence of construction, environmental temperature changes, and the wind speed. In addition, the variation of elastic modulus with time has been considered in this investigation using Concard's model. An attempt was made to compare the stresses developed in the dam body five years after the completion of the dam with those of end of the construction. It was seen that there is an increase in the tensile stresses after five years over stresses obtained immediately at the end of construction by 61.3%.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 2018

This paper is devoted to two new techniques for free vibration analysis of concrete arch dam-reservoir systems. The proposed schemes are quadratic ideal-coupled eigen-problems, which can solve the originally non-symmetric eigen-problem of the system. To find the natural frequencies and mode shapes, a new special-purpose eigen-value solution routine is developed. Moreover, the accuracy of the proposed approach is thoroughly assessed, and it is confirmed that the new scheme is very accurate under all practical conditions. It is also concluded that both decoupled and ideal-coupled strategy proposed in the previous works can be considered as special cases of the current more general procedure.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.87-112
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• 2018

In this study, it is aimed to present engineering software to estimate the structural response of concrete arch dam. Type-1 concrete arch dam constructed in the laboratory is selected as a reference model. Finite element analyses and experimental measurements are conducted to show the accuracy of initial model. Dynamic analyses are carried out by spectrum analysis under empty reservoir case considering soil-structure interaction and fixed foundation condition. The displacements, principal stresses and strains are presented as an analysis results at all nodal points on downstream and upstream faces of dam body. It is seen from the analyses that there is not any specific ratio between prototype and scaled models for each nodal point with different scale values. So, dynamic analyses results cannot be generalized with a single formula. To eliminate this complexity, the regression analysis, which is a statistical method to obtain the real model results according to the prototype model by using fitting curves, is used. The regression analysis results are validated by numerical solutions using ANSYS software and the error percentages are examined. It is seen that 10% error rates are not exceeded.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.295-317
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• 2020

Investigation of the stability of arch dam abutments is one of the most important aspects in the analysis of this type of dams. To this end, the Bakhtiari dam, a doubly curved arch dam having six wedges at each of its abutments, is selected. The seismic safety of dam abutments is studied through time history analysis using the design-based earthquake (DBE) and maximum credible earthquake (MCE) hazard levels. Londe limit equilibrium method is used to calculate the stability of wedges in abutments. The thrust forces are obtained using ABAQUS, and stability of wedges is calculated using the code written within MATLAB. Effects of foundation flexibility, grout curtain performance, vertical component of earthquake, nonlinear behavior of materials, and geometrical nonlinearity on the safety factor of the abutments are scrutinized. The results show that the grout curtain performance is the main affecting factor on the stability of the abutments, while nonlinear behavior of the materials is the least affecting factor amongst others. Also, it is resulted that increasing number of the contraction joints can improve the seismic stability of dam. A cap is observed on the number of joints, above which the safety factor does not change incredibly.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.85-110
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• 2013

Generally, mass concrete structural behavior is governed by the strain components. However, relevant guidelines in dam engineering evaluate the structural behavior of concrete dams using stress-based criteria. In the present study, strain-based criteria are proposed for the first time in a professional manner and their applicability in seismic failure evaluation of an arch dam are investigated. Numerical model of the dam is provided using NSAD-DRI finite element code and the foundation is modeled to be massed using infinite elements at its far-end boundaries. The coupled dam-reservoir-foundation system is solved in Lagrangian-Eulerian domain using Newmark-${\beta}$ time integration method. Seismic performance of the dam is investigated using parameters such as the demand-capacity ratio, the cumulative inelastic duration and the extension of the overstressed/overstrained areas. Real crack profile of the dam based on the damage mechanics approach is compared with those obtained from stress-based and strain-based approaches. It is found that using stress-based criteria leads to conservative results for arch action while seismic safety evaluation using the proposed strain-based criteria leads to conservative cantilever action.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.319-329
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• 2020

Structural damage to an arch dam is often of major concern and must be evaluated for probable rehabilitation to ensure safe, regular, normal operation. This evaluation is crucial to prevent any catastrophic or failure consequences for the life time of the dam. If specific major damage such as a large crack occurs to the dam body, the assessments will be necessary to determine the current level of safety and predict the resistance of the structure to various future loading such as earthquakes, etc. This study investigates the behavior of an arch dam cracked due to water pressure. Safety factors (SFs), of shear and compressive tractions were calculated at the surfaces of the contraction joints and the cracks. The results indicated that for cracking with an extension depth of half the thickness of the dam body, for both cases of penetration and non-penetration of water load into the cracks, SFs only slightly reduces. However, in case of increasing the depth of crack extension into the entire thickness of the dam body, the friction angle of the cracked surface is crucial; however, if it reduces, the normal loading SFs of stresses and joints tractions reduce significantly.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.103-126
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• 2015

Thermal effects are significant loads for assessing concrete dam behaviour during operation. A new methodology to estimate thermal loads on concrete dams taking into account processes which were previously unconsidered, such as: the evaporative cooling, the night radiating cooling or the shades, has been recently reported. The application of this novel approach in combination with a three-dimensional finite element method to solve the heat diffusion equation led to a precise characterization of the thermal field inside the dam. However, that approach may be computationally expensive. This paper proposes the use of a new one-dimensional model based on an explicit finite difference scheme which is improved by means of the reported methodology for computing the heat fluxes through the dam faces. The improved model has been applied to a case study where observations from 21 concrete thermometers and data of climatic variables were available. The results are compared with those from: (a) the original one-dimensional finite difference model, (b) the Stucky-Derron classical one-dimensional analytical solution, and (c) a three-dimensional finite element method. The results of the improved model match well with the observed temperatures, in addition they are similar to those obtained with (c) except in the vicinity of the abutments, although this later is a considerably more complex methodology. The improved model have a better performance than the models (a) and (b), whose results present larger error and bias when compared with the recorded data.