Seismic performance assessment of high asphalt concrete core rockfill dam considering shorter duration and longer duration

The particular interest produced by the seismological characteristics impacting structural response has given a new challenge in the performance-based design of high dams. Recent research has shown that the seismological characteristics of frequency and amplitude inherent in ground motion (GM) records govern the dynamic response of high dams. Therefore, these seismological characteristics have been accepted and incorporated into the seismic design codes of high dams in most countries. However, the duration of strong GMs, as one of the critical seismological characteristics of earthquakes, also needs to be fully understood to carry out a more effective performance-based design of high dams. Based on this observation, the effect of the duration of strong GMs has been explored, investing in the seismic performance of high asphalt concrete core rockfill dams (ACCRDs) by employing an integrated duration (ID) concept that can reflect the duration of all components of GMs. A high ACCRD was firstly built in the commercial software ABAQUS considering the dam-reservoir-foundation interaction systems. Subsequently, the coupled multiple stripe analysis and maximum likelihood estimate method generate seismic fragility curves for a dam according to two damage indicators. Comparison of the results for the seismic performance of the high ACCRD revealed that the longer-duration GMs could give rise to the higher relative settlement ratio, stress demand-capacity ratios, and probability of exceedance (POE) of the dam than shorter-duration GMs. It is recommended that in the current seismic design and seismic performance evaluation, the effects of GM duration, frequency, and amplitude should be considered.