Development of a nonlinear seismic response capacity spectrum method for intake towers of dams

The seismic-induced failure of a dam could have catastrophic consequences associated with the sudden release of the impounded reservoir. Depending on the severity of the seismic hazard, the characteristics and size of the dam-reservoir system, preventing such a failure scenario could be a problem of critical importance. In many cases, the release of water is controlled through a reinforced-concrete intake tower. This paper describes the application of a static nonlinear procedure known as the Capacity Spectrum Method (CSM) to evaluate the structural integrity of intake towers subject to seismic ground motion. Three variants of the CSM are considered: a multimodal pushover scheme, which uses the idea proposed by Chopra and Goel (2002); an adaptive pushover variant, in which the change in the stiffness of the structure is considered; and a combination of both approaches. The effects caused by the water surrounding the intake tower, as well as any water contained inside the hollow structure, are accounted for by added hydrodynamic masses. A typical structure is used as a case study, and the accuracy of the CSM analyses is assessed with time history analyses performed using commercial and structural analysis programs developed in Matlab.