A semi-empirical relationship for predicting earthquake-induced crest settlement of concrete faced rockfill dams

Seismic intensity measures and predictive equations for the evaluation of earthquake—induced crest settlements of earth dams

“…According to several comprehensive reviews of well-documented case histories of earthquake-induced damages to earth dams [1][2][3][4] the settlement of the crest of the dam can be assumed as a reliable index of seismic performance in that it is representative of the overall response of the dam and is suitable for the evaluation of the level of damage induced by earthquake loading.…”

“…As an example, using either field data, relative to postseismic surveys, or numerical predictions, obtained through advanced finite difference or finite element analyses, relative to different types of earth dams, several studies showed the relationship between the permanent crest settlement and the peak ground acceleration or velocity (e.g., Lanzo et al, 6 Lanzo, 7 Park et al, 8 Ghaemi and Konrad, 4 Armstrong et al, 9 Regina et al 10 ), the Arias Intensity (e.g., Yule et al, 11 Sica and Pagano 5 , Brigante and Sica, 12 Pagano and Sica, 13 Lanzo et al, 6 Lanzo, 7 Park et al, 8 Armstrong et al, 9 Cascone et al, 14 Regina et al 10 ), the cumulative absolute velocity (i.e. the integral of the acceleration time-history, e.g., Lanzo et al, 6 Armstrong et al, 9 Regina et al 10 ), the bracketed (e.g., Yule et al, 11 for a threshold acceleration equal to 0.05 g) or the strong motion (Lanzo et al, 6 Armstrong et al, 9 Cascone et al, 14 Regina et al 10 ) duration, the specific energy density (i.e., the integral of the squared velocity time-history; e.g., Lanzo et al 6 ), the destructiveness potential factor (e.g., Cascone et al 14 ), the mean or the predominant period (e.g., Lanzo et al, 6 Ghaemi and Konrad 4 ) and, finally, the pseudo spectral acceleration computed for different vibration periods (e.g., Armstrong et al, 9 Regina et al 10 ).…”

“…Furthermore, some of the studies listed above clearly pointed out that a tuning ratio, computed dividing the fundamental period of vibration of the dam by the mean or the predominant period of the input motion, is generally well-related to the magnitude of the permanent crest settlement, meaning that, the frequency coupling plays a fundamental role in the seismic response of earth dams (e.g., Lanzo et al, 6 Ghaemi and Konrad, 4 Cascone et al 14 ). In this framework, the need of using suitable seismic parameters or proper parameter combinations (frequently denoted as intensity measures) to better capture the variation of w c with the characteristics of the input motion has been also pointed out.…”

“…As an alternative to these approaches some authors (e.g., Park et al, 8 Ghaemi and Konrad, 4,16 Casablanca et al, 24 Nardo et al 25 ) recently proposed empirical predictive formulas for the evaluation of the dam crest settlement calibrated on the results of numerical dynamic analyses carried out using suitable constitutive models and large sets of seismic records as input motion and relating computed displacements of the dam crest with some relevant seismic parameters.…”

“…As an example, using either field data, relative to postseismic surveys, or numerical predictions, obtained through advanced finite difference or finite element analyses, relative to different types of earth dams, several studies showed the relationship between the permanent crest settlement and the peak ground acceleration or velocity (e.g., Lanzo et al., 6 Lanzo, 7 Park et al., 8 Ghaemi and Konrad, 4 Armstrong et al., 9 Regina et al 10 11 Sica and Pagano 5 , Brigante and Sica, 12 Pagano and Sica, 13 Lanzo et al., 6 Lanzo, 7 Park et al., 8 Armstrong et al., 9 Cascone et al., 14 Regina et al 10 …”