اشكان رازدار

In this study, the behavior of clay-core earth dams under normal faulting has been investigated using numerical analysis. Modeling has been performed using ABAQUS software to analyze the interaction between the active fault an‎d the dam body under different geometric an‎d geotechnical conditions. The main objective of the study is to eva‎luate the effect of the fault angle, the relative position of the fault to the dam (S/B), the thickness of the alluvium under the foundation, an‎d the dam height on the deformation pattern, the vertical settlement of the dam crest, the amount of crown rotation, an‎d the failure path in the dam body an‎d foundation. The results of the analyses show that with increasing fault angle, the settlement an‎d rotation of the dam crest generally decrease, an‎d at smaller angles, due to more unfavorable conditions of deformation distribution, the concentration of local deformations increases. Also, the fault location study indicates that changing the location of the fault at the dam bottom can have a significant effect on the dam response an‎d in some situations, the amount of rotation an‎d crest settlement can be intensified. The results related to the alluvium thickness show that with increasing alluvium thickness, the crest settlement tends to increase, while the crest rotation generally shows a decreasing trend; while in thicker alluviums, the probability of the rupture path penetrating into the clay core increases an‎d can cause further damage to the core an‎d reduce the impermeability performance. Regarding the dam height, it is also observed that an increase in height is generally accompanied by an increase in crest settlement an‎d at the same time the crest rotation decreases. In general, the most critical situation occurs when the fault is located in unfavorable positions relative to the dam an‎d its angle is relatively small; because in this case, the rupture path is more likely to pass through the clay core an‎d can cause serious disruption to the damʹs impermeability. The findings of this research can be used as a basis for assessing the risk of surface faulting an‎d improving design considerations for earth dams in fault areas.

سد خاكي , گسل نرمال , آباكوس

Earthen Dam , Normal Fault , Abaqus

Ashkan Razdar

Dr Alireza Saeidi Azizkandi