Anatomy of the vibration characteristics in old arch dams by random field theory

•Formulation of random field theory for the elastic properties of old concrete dams.•Evaluation of the correlation length effect on the frequency response dispersion and inter-correlation among vibrational modes.•First-time analysis of six arch dams in the context of a “dam class”.•Proposal of an ex...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Engineering structures 2019-01, Vol.179, p.460-475
Main Authors: Hariri-Ardebili, Mohammad Amin, Mahdi Seyed-Kolbadi, S., Saouma, Victor E., Salamon, Jerzy W., Nuss, Larry K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arch dams
Curvature
Dam class
Dam design
Dam engineering
Dams
Field theory
Fields (mathematics)
Finite element method
Frequency
Heterogeneity
Iterative methods
Random
Risk assessment
Spatial variation
System identification
Vibration
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Summary:•Formulation of random field theory for the elastic properties of old concrete dams.•Evaluation of the correlation length effect on the frequency response dispersion and inter-correlation among vibrational modes.•First-time analysis of six arch dams in the context of a “dam class”.•Proposal of an experimental design using a dam frequency analytical model.•Proposal of an iterative random field-based system identification technique for arch dams. Determining vibration characteristics constitutes the first step in calibrating the finite element model in an old arch dam analysis. These characteristics provide the required information for a proper dynamic analysis of the coupled fluid-structure system used for risk assessment purposes. This paper investigates the detailed vibration characteristics of arch dams with heterogeneous material by applying random field theory. A group of six double-curvature arch dams are studied herein. The spatial material distribution using different correlation lengths is compared, and the response dispersion is quantified. An experimental meta-model design is developed for a specific class of dams, with an approximate analytical solution being derived. Ultimately, an iterative, random field-based system identification technique is proposed for old arch dams.
ISSN:0141-0296
1873-7323
DOI:10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.10.082