Non-linear seismic cracking analysis of medium-height concrete gravity dams

Abstract

The non-linear dynamic response of concrete gravity dams under seismic loads is a little-understood phenomenon due to limitations in the previous studies. The choice of a reliable concrete constitutive model and constitutive parameters to predict the performance of concrete gravity dams under severe earthquake ground motion is one of the most complex tasks. The response of a typical medium-height concrete gravity dam to a realistic motion is examined using the ADINA concrete model. The fracture energy cracking criterion is applied to remove the unreasonable mesh sensitivity of the results. The influence of the constitutive parameters on the earthquake response analysis of concrete gravity dams is also discussed.