Evaluation of seismic-induced crest settlement of earth dams

In this paper an original empirical formula for the prediction of the permanent crest settlement of earth dams is proposed starting from the results of a large set of 2D dynamic finite element analyses carried out with reference to an Italian zoned earth dam. Various seismic parameters, representative of the input motion, have been considered as possible predictive variables, individually or in combinations, and an original seismic parameter is introduced to reliably describe the variation of the crest settlement with the characteristics of the input motion in terms of amplitude, energy and frequency content. The proposed empirical formula has been checked using data available in the literature with reference to two other Italian earth dams, for which specific predictive formulas have been also derived. Finally, the use of the proposed seismic parameter to check the possible occurrence of earthquake-induced limit states in earth-dam is also explored.