Long-term deformation analysis of Shuibuya concrete face rockfill dam based on response surface method and improved genetic algorithm

Abstract

Due to the size effects of rockfill materials, the settlement difference between numerical simulation and in situ monitoring of rockfill dams is a topic of general concern. The constitutive model parameters obtained from laboratory triaxial tests often underestimate the deformation of high rockfill dams. Therefore, constitutive model parameters obtained by back analysis were used to calculate and predict the long-term deformation of rockfill dams. Instead of using artificial neural networks (ANNs), the response surface method (RSM) was employed to replace the finite element simulation used in the optimization iteration. Only 27 training samples were required for RSM, improving computational efficiency compared with ANN, which required 300 training samples. RSM can be used to describe the relationship between the constitutive model parameters and dam settlements. The inversion results of the Shuibuya concrete face rockfill dam (CFRD) show that the calculated settlements agree with the measured data, indicating the accuracy and efficiency of RSM.