The Earthquake Engineering Online Archive

The effects of tectonic movements on stresses and deformations in earth embankments

Bray, Jonathan D.; Seed, Raymond B.; Seed, H. Bolton

UCB/EERC-90/13, Earthquake Engineering Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, 1990, 421 pages (480.2/B72/1989)

Lessons learned from previous studies and case histories of fault rupture propagation through earth dams; case histories and previous studies of earthquake fault rupture propagation through soils; previous studies of two closely related topics: anchor pull-out and mining subsidence; 1 g small-scale model tests of fault rupture propagation through saturated clay; and finite element analyses of fault rupture propagation through saturated clay are synthesized to develop recommendations for design provisions to minimize the potentially adverse effects of earthquake fault rupture propagation on dam stability and integrity. Also presented are the results of a program of base deformation testing using 1 g small-scale models composed of a weak saturated clay mixture. A 3 to 1 mixture of kaolinite and sodium montmorillonite produces a material with undrained shear strengths on the order of 10 to 100 psf and well-scaled stress deformation behavior for small-scale model testing without the need for a centrifuge apparatus. Test results of the 1 g small-scale models are compared with those results observed in the field. Results of linear elastic and linear elastic-perfectly plastic constitutive models employed in the finite element method, as well as those of nonlinear models, are presented. The results of these studies have led to the development of analytical techniques for modeling fault rupture propagation through overlying clays.

Available online: http://nisee.berkeley.edu/documents/EERC/EERC-90-13.pdf (59 MB)