DISLOCATION OF FACE-SLABS OF ZIPINGPU CONCRETE FACE ROCKFILL DAM DURING WENCHUAN EARTHQUAKE

Abstract

Zipingpu concrete face rockfill dam (CFRD) is one of the tallest dams that have ever been subjected to strong earthquake shaking and recorded damages. In this paper, finite element method and limit equilibrium method are used to determine the most critical failure surface for Zipingpu CFRD during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China. The dislocation damage of the face-slab joint was then obtained from the sliding block analysis. The major factors affecting dislocation displacement of face-slabs were analyzed. The results showed that the rigid sliding block method is relevant for analyzing the damage of face-slabs of CFRD during earthquake. The peak ground acceleration had a significant influence on the dislocation. As the acceleration of the dam increases with the height while the strength of face-slab joints reduces, the dislocation could easily occur when the upstream slope of the dam started to slide. The water elevation had considerable impact on the dislocation of face-slabs during strong shaking. There might be no dislocation of face-slabs at full reservoir, and the water elevation just above construction joints would induce larger damage.