Abstract Description: Earth dams, when subjected to seismic loads, may exhibit longitudinal and lateral deformations, settlement, and the formation of longitudinal and transverse cracks. Cracking poses a severe threat to these structures, as it may lead to piping failure due to increased seepage and internal erosion through the cracks. Ensuring the safety of earth dams relies on an adequate assessment of their seismically-induced deformations. Current empirical methods for estimating the size and depth of longitudinal and transverse cracking produced during an earthquake are grounded in case studies from the 1960s to the 1990s. This study expands and modernizes the existing database, with information on the performance of 385 dams during 21 different seismic events, from 2000 through 2023. Data collection involved an exhaustive search from existing databases, published reports of seismic damage on embankments and earth dams, and from publications from technical journals and conferences. Additionally, the correlations by Pells and Fell (2002), which relate the damage class with the seismic intensity of the earthquake (characterized by both magnitude and Peak Ground Acceleration), have been updated. The data gathered, together with new correlations may be used by designers to enhance the seismic resilience of embankments and earth dams, as well as by researchers to further our knowledge on the seismic response of dams, to develop new numerical models, or calibrate or verify existing ones.
Learning Objectives:
Learn about empirical correlations to predict damage and seismic-induced cracking of earth dams.
Describe the expansion and modernization of the existing database and empirical recommendations of damage and seismic-induced cracking of earth dams.
Show the results of the sensitivity of earth dams to earthquake loading, based on newly collected case studies.
