Seismic analysis of concrete arch dams by combined discrete crack and non-orthogonal smeared crack technique

There are different techniques to examine the non-linear seismic behavior of concrete arch dams, among which, discrete crack (DC) method is the most popular. A more recent option introduced for this purpose is the non-orthogonal smeared crack (NOSC) approach. In this study, a special finite element program is developed based on the combined discrete crack and non-orthogonal smeared crack (DC–NOSC) technique. The basic concepts of the method are explained initially. Later on, the non-linear dynamic behavior of a typical thin arch dam is considered based on this approach, and the results are compared against other simpler methods mentioned above. Overall, DC–NOSC model is found to be a more rigorous, consistent and realistic approach from different aspects in comparison with both DC and NOSC models alone.