Improving the seismic performance of arch dams using segmentation-a case study of Karun 4 arch dam,Iran

A vibration control system is proposed in the present paper for arch dams. in the suggested method,the body of arch dam is divided into regular segments by vertical and horizontal splitters. then the segments are connected to each other by means of springs,dampers and suitable water-stops. to investigate the efficiency of the proposed method,a set of dynamic analyses performed on karun 4 arch dam subjected to naghan earthquake induced ground accelerations. the main objective of analyses was to compare the seismic behavior of an existing dam in two cases. in the first case,the dam is commonly built and in the second one,the dam is segmented according to the method proposed in this study. results showed that the suggested method reduces the dynamic responses of the dam and improve its seismic performance. © school of engineering,taylor's university.