Lower bound FEM for limit aseismic capability of earth-rockfill dams

An FEM based on the lower bound theorem of limit analysis is proposed to study the limit aseismic capability of earth-rock-fill dams. Considering the large internal friction angel and non-linear shear strength parameters of rockfill materials, the proposed method formulates the limit analysis as a second-order cone programming (SOCP) problem with constraints based on the conditions of equilibrium, stress discontinuity, stress boundary and native Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion. The lower bound of the limit aseismic capability is then obtained by means of the interior-point algorithm and the iterative approach. Comparison with the published solutions illustrates the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed method for a smooth strip footing problem. The proposed approach is also applied to the seismic stability analysis of a typical rockfill dam with core wall so that the limit aseismic capability of the dam is obtained. The results proclaim the seismic failure mechanisms of earth-rockfill dams and demonstrate the practical value of the proposed method.