SEISMIC SAFETY OF CONCRETE GRAVITY DAMS BASED ON DYNAMIC CRACKING ANALYSES

Dynamic cracking analyses were applied to evaluate earthquake-resistant safety of concrete gravity dams during large-scale earthquakes. Since occurrence and propagation behavior of cracks within dams are mentioned to be sensitively affected by damping characteristics of the structure, the proper estimation method of the damping characteristics of dam was firstly discussed by comparing existing shaking table test results of a plain concrete dam-shaped model with the results of dynamic cracking analyses using the smeared crack model. Dynamic cracking analyses based on the estimation were next performed to predict the crack occurrence and its propagation behavior of a real-scale dam considering base rocks during large-scale earthquakes. Moreover, the relationship between crack propagation length and input acceleration at the base was investigated to evaluate seismic safety of the gravity dam.