Experimental investigations into seismic failure of high arch dams

A series of dynamic experiments for 20 models of high arch dams were recently performed on a shaking table, with the water ignored. The experimental results show that the seismic response and final failure of high arch dams are significantly affected by the contraction joints depending upon the contact materials, the motion of the surfaces, and other factors. The instantaneous acceleration that occurs when the first tensile crack appears is employed very tentatively as the parameter to quantitatively estimate the overload capacity of high arch darns from small-scale models. The final failure patterns of the model dams also are reported and discussed. From the results of the experimental investigation, a new idea is suggested, which is to use the contraction joints to control the response of a high arch dam and thereby to control the level of the seismic damage.