The Effect of Faults on the Behaviour of the Earth Dam – Case Study of the Ourkiss Dam

Abstract

The analysis of the failure due to the effect of the propagation of normal and reversed faults with different angles of inclination and by sliding through the Ourkiss dam isstudied numerically. Mainly at the end of construction and at the highest water level, for this purpose the non-linear finite difference method is used considering four fault angles of inclination, activated at the center of the base of the embankment.The results of the study show that the shear stress values increase with the increase of the vertical base displacement imposed in both conditions of the dam state, and this for both normal and overturned faults.