Earthquake Soil Structure Interaction
Analysis of a Gravity Dam
H. Yang, H. Wang, J. W. Salamon, and B. Jeremic
Abstract This paper presents numerical modeling and simulation issues seen in
static and dynamic analysis of dam-foundation systems. Domain reduction method
(DRM) is chosen as the preferred approach for seismic motion input. Proper modeling
of inelastic material behavior and seismic energy dissipation is discussed. Verification
and validation are essential to ensure reliability of numerical results. Numerical
modeling and simulation of a soil/rock—concrete dam system subjected to static
and dynamic earthquake loading are presented. It is shown that, in order to make
safe and economical design decisions, engineers should have complete understanding
and control of the numerical analysis process.
Keywords Earthquake soil structure interaction · Dam modeling · Nonlinear finite
element · Seismic energy dissipation · Verification and validation
1 Introduction
Credibility of numerical analysis results relies to a great extent on a number of numer-
ical modeling and numerical simulation issues. Those issues need to be properly
addressed and resolved so that Earthquake, Soil/Rock, Structure Interaction (ESSI)
analysis for dams produce rational, reliable results that can be used for design and
assessment. Some of those issues are briefly presented in this short paper. More
detailed account of modeling and simulation of ESSI behavior of a soil-structure
systems is presented by Jeremi´ c et al. [1].
H. Yang · H. Wang · B. Jeremic (B )
University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
e-mail: jeremic@ucdavis.edu
J. W. Salamon
United States Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, CO 80225, USA
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
G. Bolzon et al. (eds.), Numerical Analysis of Dams, Lecture Notes
in Civil Engineering 91, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51085-5_20
369