Geosynthetics Effect on Seismic Stability of Earth Dams

New materials in construction of hydraulic structures such as earth dams can be very effective. In recent years, geosynthetics have played a major role in earth dam and reservoir rehabilitation projects and provided promising solutions to the safety issues for earth dams which these properties have attracted engineers attentions. Geosynthetic materials are presently used widely in international dam construction practice as watertight elements, filters, drains, reinforcing and separating members, and for protecting and revetting slopes of earth dams. In previous studies, the effect of these materials on the performance of the earth dams shell during earthquake has been less emphasized. In this paper, Slope/W software from geostudio series has been utilized to investigate the seismic behavior of earth dam slopes in the presence and absence of geosynthetics and get the safety factor in both analyses and comparing them with nailing system. The results of the analysis clearly showed that geosynthetics depending on the type of soils enhance the stability of the earth dam shells approximately 10 % under earthquake loading conditions while nailing increased safety factor about 2 times in comparison with static conditions.

Geosynthetics Effect on Seismic Stability of Earth Dams Keywords:

Geosynthetics , earth dams , Slope/w , nailing , safety factor