SEISMIC RESPONSE ANALYSIS OF ALİBEY EARTH-FILL DAM

İbrahim Tolga Cimilli

(Thesis Supervisor: Mustafa Erdik)

ABSTRACT

It is obvious that, as a consequence of a strong earthquake, an earth-fill dam can fail and release the whole reservoir in one disastrous flood-wave. It also may cause excessive damage and casualties in the region. In this study seismic response analysis of Alibey Earth-Fill Dam was utilized. Numerous numbers of two-dimensional and three-dimensional numerical models of the dam were created for dynamic and static analysis. As experimental studies, many sets of ambient and impulse vibration tests were held on the dam body. After these surveys via shear-wave technique and eigenvalue analysis, material properties and modal frequencies were determined, respectively. According to field-tests' results, computer-models of the dam was modified in terms of material properties. Thus, similar mode shapes and modal frequencies were obtained, comparing to insitu tests. Both experimental and numerical work were used for identifjnng the material types of the dam and for creating a realistic computer model for future earthquake vulnerability studies of Alibey Earth-Fill Dam.