Effects of liquefiable soil thickness and ground-motion characteristics on seismic earth dam performance

A numerical simulation has been performed for a earth dams founded on a shallow and relatively thin layers liquefiable foundation to assess the seismic stability of earth dams. The numerical predictions compared well with the centrifuge experimental data. The variation of ground-motion characteristics along the earth dams during earthquakes is investigated here. In order to clarify the influence of the ground-motion characteristics, the models were identical and then subjected to four consecutive seismic waves corresponded to in order to the results of the previous shake would be the initial condition of the next shake were considered. A real recorded seismic wave off Pacific coast in the event of March 11, 2011Tohoku-Oki earthquake in Japan is adopted as the input motion. The results of the dynamic analysis, such as liquefaction-induced deformation behaviors observed during the events compared with the numerically predicted.These comparisons provided valuable insights into the dynamic behavior of seismic earth dam performance.

Keywords:

Numerical simulation , Earth dam , liquefiable foundation , seismic waves , earthquake