Effects of Re-entrant Corner on Seismic Performance of High Concrete Gravity Dams

Abstract

The seismic vulnerability assessment of any important infrastructure like concrete gravity dam is an integral part for the seismic risk evaluation. Vulnerability of the concrete gravity dam depends on many factors including its geometric configuration, since the geometric shape of a concrete gravity dam assures its stability during static and dynamic loading conditions. In case of high concrete gravity dams, sometimes it becomes necessary to provide slope at its upstream face and in the consequence re-entrant corner appears in the geometry. Stress concentration in the re-entrant corner region causes initiation of crack in the dam body, which is an alarming issue among engineering community. Therefore in the present work, effects of re-entrant corner on seismic performance of concrete gravity dams are investigated using incremental dynamic analysis method on typical high concrete gravity dams. A possible solution to the problem is also proposed in the study.