Static Deformation Analysis for Structural Health Monitoring of a Large Dam

Abstract

The structural health monitoring of a dam is important for maintaining the safe operation and the longevity of the dam system. The damage of a structure can be detected from the variation of structural features, such as structural vibration and static deformation. The structural health of a large dam cannot be continuously monitored from structural vibration since vibration is insignificant except when earthquakes happen. The use of the daily measured static deformation can be an alternative way to continuously monitor the long-term structural health of a dam. This paper presents an investigation with the use of the measured static deformation for the structural health monitoring of Fui-Tsui dam, which is located in a very active seismic zone of Taiwan. A modeling technique is applied to characterize the measured static deformation as a function of the measured physical parameters. The proposed technique can also be used for the prediction of the long-term deformation for the structural health monitoring of Fui-Tsui dam.