Earthquake damage estimation of concrete gravity dams using linear analysis and empirical failure criteria

A new methodology is proposed to estimate earthquake damage of gravity dams. In this methodology the static pushover analysis is used to formulate a systematic and rational procedure to estimate the level of damage from the linear seismic analysis results. The tensile cracking of concrete is considered as the main potential damage. Examples of three existing concrete gravity dams are provided to illustrate the methodology and discuss the probable nonlinear response and failure mechanisms. The damage state of the dams under twelve proper earthquake ground motions scaled to increasing intensity levels is estimated using the new proposed criteria and verified using the actual nonlinear time-history analysis. Finally, a damage index is defined to quantitatively predict the earthquake damage of gravity dams.