Parametric Investigation of valley shape affects on seismic response of concrete gravity dams

The seismic failure of concrete dams is possible in earthquake-prone areas. Their failure can put high risks to life and property. Furthermore, any structural damage to dams will cause negative economic effects. This fact has led to increased attention in dynamic behavior of dams during the last decades. The aim of this study is comparing two and three dimensional seismic response of concrete gravity dams and also necessity of providing more realistic models for considering the effects of cross-stream motions. The effects of damreservoir-foundation interaction, nonlinear behavior of mass concrete, the effect different shapes of valley are studied and their effect on nonlinear response and seismic stability of concrete gravity dams are evaluated under two and three-component earthquake records.