Application of Finite Difference Method and PSO Algorithm in Seismic Analysis of Narmab Earth Dam

In this paper the dynamic behavior of the Narmab earth dam (Iran), considering dam-foundation interaction, under normalized Manjil earthquake as input motion has been studied. In order to assess the effect of the dam heights and the foundation widths, in the finite difference model on the earthquake response, various dam-foundation coupled models are analyzed by FLAC as finite difference program for solving mining and geotechnical engineering problems. In this research, a fitness function has been defined based on Non-Linear Energy Operator (NLEO). The dam heights and the foundation widths has been chosen optimally using particle swarm optimization (PSO) method. The simulation results indicate considerable differences in the seismic responses.