Influence of the Valley Shape on the Earthquake Induced Response of a Dam

Abstract

In a series of works by the authors, the problem of the earthquake-induced response of a dam was studied with respect to the topographical conditions of the site. It was proven that in some cases, these conditions can be especially unfavourable compared to widely used recommendations and code requirements. The current work studies the seismic response of a dam at the common conditions of river conjunction just upstream of the dam site with a convex slope opposite to the dam. A concrete gravity dam is studied because of the largest hydrodynamic pressure at the almost vertical upstream dam slope. Based on a particular case study, comparison of the usually implemented approach with transmitting opposite boundary of the fluid domain with the real 3D model of reservoir, respectively, is performed. Thus, by a realistic modelling of the system in the ANSYS environment, the influence of the real spatial geometry of the reservoir on the dynamic response of the dam is studied. After discussion of the obtained results, conclusions are drawn, and tasks for further research related to particular topographical configuration are formulated.