Collapse mechanisms at the foundation interface of geometrically similar concrete gravity dams

A computationally effective numerical procedure is introduced to evaluate safety factors and collapse mechanisms of geometrically similar structures with dilatant frictional joints like concrete gravity dams. The envisaged methodology, alternative to the more traditional step-by-step integration of the governing rate equations, rests on the solution of a constrained minimization problem endowed with a closed-form algebraic formulation, under the hypothesis that damage evolves along structural joints while the bulk material remains linear elastic.