Behaviour of embankment dam under seismic solicitations (PCI-3.1)

Problematic

Under the Québec Dam safety Act and Regulation, it is mandatory for owners to evaluate the seismic response of their dam. Numerical tools are available but the imput data such as dynamic properties of the different granular materials are difficult to obtain. The dynamic analysis of embankment dam aims at evaluating the deformation behaviour and ensure the stability of the structure in case of an earthquake. 

This analysis requires:

1) Evaluating the seisminc hazards and selecting the design earthquake

2) Establishing constitutive laws of material under seismic solicitations

3) Modelling the dam considering limit conditions

4) Detemining the initial stresses under the weight of the soil and the hydraulic pressures from the reservoir

5) Applying the seismic solicitations

6) Analyzing the results in terms of maximal accelerations, déformations and stresses and also in terms of permanent déformation and settlement of the crest

 The objective of this project is to avaluate the dynamic stability of embankment dams under seismic solicitations by integrating a non-linear elasto-plastic behaviour for dam materials. The project also aims at predicting permanent displacements of the dam.

Subprojects:

-Development of an analysis method for embankment dam that would take into account the dilatancy phenomenon and the pore pressure generation in the dam during dynamic solicitations (PhD2)

-Establish relationships between the seismic signatures of an earthquake (harmfulness index) and the damages caused to embankment dams, taking into account the influences of the site and the dam geometry (PhD3)