Sliding Stability of Concrete Gravity Dam Using Dynamic Finite Element Analysis Compared to Rigid Block Method

Although high safety factors are acceptable to meet the safety requirements of dams, the real flexibility of the whole system necessitates studying its performance. Sliding stability is evaluated here by deternrining FS using rigid block method and analyzing sliding via finite element method. Applying two earthquake records and considering three loading conditions, it is concluded that although even for small PGAs rigid block analysis predicts FS greater than I, FE analysis results in dam sliding on foundation. Also, the value ofPGA causing sliding and the value of probable sliding mostly depend on the nature of the earthquake