An investigation into the base sliding response of concrete gravity dams to dynamic loading

A series of dynamic slip tests on a concrete gravity dam model was conducted on the EPSRC earthquake simulator at Bristol. The aim of the experiments was to investigate the dynamically induced sliding and overturning characteristics of a typical low height gravity dam monolith cracked at its base. The tests indicated that the downstream sliding is the main instability that could be expected during an earthquake. Dynamic, finite element analyses of the experimental model, using a Lagrange multiplier algorithm, were also performed. A comparison of the experimental and analytical response indicated that the seismic induced slip can be reasonably predicted by performing a large displacement, lagrangian analysis using a standard finite element package.