Seismic crack propagation process of roller compacted concrete (RCC) gravity dam-reservoir-foundation system using extended finite element method (XFEM)
Keywords:
RCC gravity dams; initial cracks; XFEM; seismic crack propagation; dam-reservoir-foundation interaction.Abstract
The seismic crack propagation in a typical Zoned Roller Compacted Concrete (ZRCC) gravity dam is modeled and analyzed by using extended finite element method (XFEM). The cracking process of Koyna dam due to 1967 Koyna earthquake is carried out considering the dam-reservoir-foundation interaction for validation of modeling process. Zoned Roller Compacted Concrete (ZRCC) gravity dam, viz., Gibe-III dam is considered to be a case study for the seismic crack propagation analysis. The dam is analyzed with different initial cracks at selected positions of the chosen ZRCC gravity dam by considering rigid and flexible foundation conditions. The effect of initial crack location on the crack propagation mechanism due to the seismic reaction is observed.
