Centrifuge Model Tests of a Rockfill Dam and Simulation Using Consolidation Analysis Method

A series of centrifuge model tests for a typical rockfill dam (central core zone type) was conducted in order to investigate behaviour of the dam due to cycles of reservoir water levels. The dam models consisted of comparatively well-compacted core zone and loosely compacted rock zone. A typical result among the model tests was also simulated by using a consolidation analysis method coupled with an elastoplastic model for unsaturated geo-materials. The main behaviour seen from the centrifuge tests was that large amounts of settlements due to wetting within the upstream rock zone were monitored; the crest of the dam at first moved toward upstream and then returned toward downstream in the first reservoir filling; and cracks along the dam axis were observed on the upper parts of the upstream and downstream slopes. A typical result of the dam model tests during reservoir filling was simulated. The simulation results showed that the settlements calculated agreed mostly with those measured; the settlements due to wetting could also be estimated within the upstream rock zone; the horizontal displacements toward upstream increased with the cycles of up-and-down water levels and they concentrated to a shallow region near the upstream surface; tension stresses were calculated at the places where the cracks were monitored in the model tests; and just after construction, arching actions in both the vertical and horizontal effective stress distributions could be seen on both the upstream and downstream boundaries between the core and rock zones but the arching action on the upstream boundary disappeared with water levels going up. The simulation method presented here provided an effective approach to analyze the behaviour of the rockfill dam during reservoir filling periods.