NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY WARANGAL

Subject- Earth and rock fill dams (CE5411)

TOPIC -SEISMIC RESPONSE OF EARTH DAM WITH VARYING DEPTH

OF LIQUEFIABLE FOUNDATION LAYER

Presented by Submitted to
Vaka Bhaskara Chandra Reddy Dr. SANJIT BISWAS
Roll no. 22CEM2R09 Assistant Professor
M.Tech Geotechnical Geotechnical Engineering
specialization Division
Department of Civil Engineering Department of Civil Engineering
NIT Warangal NIT Warangal
 INTRODUCTION

• A model of an earth dam with clay core founded on a liquefiable

foundation subjected to earthquake loading is studied in this paper.
• This paper will present results from three of these physical models
specifically focusing on a liquefiable layer in the foundation that
varies with depth.
• Earthquake induced liquefaction continues to be a major threat to
many engineered structures around the world.
• Liquefaction is denoted by excess pore pressure reaching 100% of the
initial vertical stress.

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• The three models, DDL, DLD, and LDD, have a looser layer at the
bottom 3 m, middle 3 m, and top 3 m of the 9 m thick foundation
layer, respectively.
• To date, the data has been numerically modeled with the programs
DIANA, CYCLIC, and FLAC.

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 OBJECTIVES

• To determine the related effects on the overlying earth dam.

• To gain a better understanding of the complex dynamics of liquefying
foundations under earth dams.
• To obtain a database of information useful for numerical model
calibration.

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 SETUP OF A TYPICAL MODEL
100g

Setup And Instrument Locations Of Centrifuge Models

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 TEST RESULTS AND ANALYSES
MODEL DDL

Plots of time (s) versus acceleration (g) recorded for model DDL
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Plots of time (s) versus excess pore pressure (kPa) recorded for model DDL.
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Measured internal deformations and plots of time (s) versus displacement (m) for
model DDL
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 MODEL DLD

• The P6 and a4 (upstream) records indicate that excess pore pressure

did reach approximately 88% of the initial vertical effective stress and
that the accelerations start to become ‘spiky’ (indicative of dilation
and loss of shear strength).
• The crest settlements between the two models are somewhat different,
with an increase in settlement of 33% for the DLD model. This
increased settlement is expected since the loose liquefiable layer
location is closer to the embankment.

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Plots of time (s) versus acceleration (g) recorded for model DLD
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Plots of time (s) versus excess pore pressure (kPa) recorded for model
DLD
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Measured internal deformations and plots of time (s) versus
displacement (m) for model DLD
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 MODEL LDD

• Near the core beneath the dam, no liquefaction was observed in any of
the foundation layers, including the loose layer.
• In this model as opposed to the other models, the recorded excess pore
pressures at locations P7 and P10 do not show any negative values as
loose soil even strained excessively remains contractive.
• For this particular dam/foundation system that having the loose layer
in the middle of the foundation is a worse scenario than having the
loose layer near the ground surface.

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Plots of time (s) versus acceleration (g) recorded for model LDD.
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Plots of time (s) versus excess pore pressure (kPa) recorded for model LDD

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Measured internal deformations and plots of time (s) versus displacement
(m) for model LDD
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 CONCLUSIONS

• In all three models regardless of the location in the foundation of the

loose layer, there was liquefaction occurring at all depths for the areas
of the toes (upstream and downstream) out into the free field for some
undetermined distance.
• For models DDL and DLD there was clear redistribution of pore fluid
from the foundation surface layer towards the toes, a mechanism that
was not observed in the LDD case.

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 REFERENCES

1. Sharp, Michael K., and Korhan Adalier. "Seismic response of earth

dam with varying depth of liquefiable foundation layer." Soil
Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 26.11 (2006): 1028-1037.

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THANK YOU

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