Nonlinear Seismic Assessment of Arch Dams and Investigation of Joint Behavior Using Endurance Time Analysis Method

Abstract

At the present study, application of endurance time analysis (ETA) method in seismic evaluation of arch dams is investigated. ETA is a time-history based dynamic pushover procedure, which utilizes a set of predesigned intensifying acceleration functions to estimate the responses of the structural systems in various seismic excitation levels. Dez dam was chosen as the case study and all contraction and peripheral joints were modeled based on as-built drawings. The reservoir was modeled as a compressible medium and the foundation was assumed to be massless. Results show that ETA method is able to estimate dynamic responses of the dam with acceptable accuracy in comparison with time history analysis (THA). The great advantage of ETA method lies on the noticeable reduction of the computational demand in comparison with THA for considering seismic behaviors of the infrastructures.