Earthquake analysis of arch and gravity dams including the effects of foundation inhomogeneity

Dam-foundation interaction plays an important role in the design of earthquake-resistant concrete arch and gravity dams. Geological conditions of the dam canyon are usually very complicated; however, in the literature, the damfoundation interaction analysis is often carried out based on the premise of a homogeneous unbounded foundation. In this paper, the effect of foundation inhomogeneity on the seismic response of arch and gravity dams was studied by means of scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM). In order to satisfy the similarity requirement of SBFEM and simplify the computational effort, a subdomain approach and a conical representation of an unbounded foundation were proposed. The way of partitioning the domain and the selection of open angle and bottom radius of the cone model on the accuracy of the result were examined. Numerical examples show that the proposed approach is rational and efficient. Cases of foundation inhomogeneity with stiffness varying in accordance with an exponential function along the radial direction, and cases of foundation inhomogeneity with stiffness discontinuity and with weak interlayer strata on the earthquake response of concrete arch dams as well as gravity dams were analyzed. It was found that a homogeneous idealization of the unbounded foundation may sometimes greatly underestimate the maximum earthquake stress response of the dam. Therefore, taking into account the effect of foundation inhomogeneity for the earthquake safety assessment of concrete arch and gravity dams has great significance. © Higher Education Press 2007.