Dynamic Response of a Central Clay Core Dam Under Two-Component Seismic Loading

The seismic response of Aratozawa rockfill dam (Japan) is simulated in the present work by using ECP constitutive model and Aster FE code [1]. Static calculation is first performed for computing initial stress and strain fields. Then, the numerical convergence problem in dynamic step under two-component seismic loadings is discussed. It is found that the numerical damping induced by time-integration algorithms does not help solving the numerical convergence problem. However, the augmentation of subdivision level of calculation step is very efficient. The total duration of calculation is extended but practically acceptable. Finally, the dynamic response of Aratozwa dam is compared with real measurements presented in the literature with three sets of model parameters. All results show great agreement with the measurements and also be reconfirmed by Anderson’s criteria.