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Reliability of the simplified methods for evaluation of earthquake-induced

displacement in earth and rockfill dams

Conference Paper · October 2011

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Mojtaba E Kan Hossein A. Taiebat

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 Reliability of simplified methods for evaluation of earthquake-induced
displacement in earth and rockfill dams
Mojtaba E. Kan and Hossein A. Taiebat
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW

Abstract: The simplified procedures for evaluation of earthquake induced displacement in earth and
rockfill dams are widely used in practice. These methods are simple, inexpensive, and substantially less
time consuming as compared to complicated numerical approaches. They are especially recommended to
be used as a screening tool, to identify embankments with marginal factor of safety, assuming that these
methods always give conservative estimates of deformation. However recent studies show that application
of these methods may not be conservative in some cases, especially when the tuning ratio of a dam is
within a certain range. In this paper the fundamental theory behind the simplified methods is critically
reviewed and practical guidelines are presented that can be used to identify cases where the simplified
procedures may not be conservative.
Keywords: earth/rockfill dam, crest settlement, simplified methods, dynamic analysis.

Introduction
Evaluation of the effects of earthquakes on embankment
dams and the safety of the dams during and after
earthquakes is an important issue in the design of earth
and rockfill dams. Although a low percentage of failures
or accidents of earth dams have been due to earthquake
loading (Fell et al., 2005), the few reported cases are all
among the important engineering problems. This is due
partially to the unexpected behaviour of the dams and
partially to unknown factors affecting the response of
dams under earthquake loading. In some cases, the failure
has been due to liquefaction of the dams or their
foundations, among the classical cases are the failure of
San Fernando Lower Dam in 1971 (Seed et al., 1973) and
El Cobre Dam in Chile in 1965 (Dobry and Alvarez,
1967). However, there are a large number of cases where
earthquakes resulted in sliding and lateral spreading of the
embankment and settlement of the dam crest. The
deformation patterns of embankment dams under
earthquake loading can be visualised as shown in Figure 1
(Ambraseys, 1958). The magnitude of the crest settlement
should be less than the free board of the dam to prevent
overtopping and breach.
In the design of dams, or in evaluating the earthquake Figure 1: Major deformation patterns in earth dams
response of existing dams, it is important to evaluate the (After Ambraseys, 1958, taken from Yan, 1991)
crest settlement due to earthquake loading. As a general
rule, the magnitude of the crest settlement should be less
than the freeboard of the dam to prevent overtopping and Methods of estimating deformations of dams
breach. The pseudo static stability analysis is probably the oldest
Different approaches have been proposed for the analysis subjected to earthquake loading. In this method the effect
of earth dams under earthquake loading, ranging from of an earthquake is considered by application of a
pseudo static stability analysis to simplified dynamic horizontal acceleration to a potential sliding wedge in a
procedures, and to complex numerical analyses. A brief stability analysis. The acceleration is normally taken as a
review of these methods is given in the following section portion of the peak ground acceleration (Fell et al., 2005).
with more emphasis on the simplified dynamic While some design guidelines (such as US Army Corps of
procedures. A critical assessment of the simplified Engineers, 1984; ANCOLD, 1998; USBR, 2000) have
procedures, which are widely used in practice, will be recommended this method as a screening tool for
presented. Finally the conditions beyond which the preliminary studies, others (for instance Fell et al., 2005)
simplified procedures cannot be relied upon will be are of the opinion that the simplified assumptions used in
introduced. this method make it unsuitable for use as a design
procedure. One limitation in this method is that the