Assessment of erathquake risk of Ambar Dam by dynamic analysis methods

Most of the dams is earthfill dams in the world. The structural complexity of these dams and the high risk associated with the social and environmental consequences of failures require very reliable analyses of their performance, especially as regards seismic loading. In this paper, a dynamic analysis procedure for eartfill dams are proposed and described, using the Ambar earthfill dam as a case study. The acceleration time history of 1 May 2003 Bingol earthquake datas were used. According to the numerical results, earthquake-induced deformations of the dam are expected to be within the safety margins determined by the Ministry of Public Works and Settlement, Turkey. The results also indicate that a non-linear analysis capable of capturing dominant non-linear mechanisms can be used to assess the stability of such kind of dams.