STRESSES AND MOVEMENTS IN OROVILLE DAM. A DISCUSSION

The authors of the paper affirm that material property evaluation is one of the most important aspects of a logically conducted finite element analysis for an earth embankment. A simple value of modulus of Poisson's ratio, which is representative of the behavior of a given embankment material is extremely difficult if not impossible to determine. If, however, the displacements at a given point or two is known, it is possible to determine combinations of the modulus and Poisson's ratio which will match the known displacements. Justification for the use of the these "fitted" values, in a design analysis prior to construction, is very difficult to make because the material behaves in a nonlinear and stress dependent manner and this behavior is not be modeled. Here lie the main advantages in the technique described in the paper. The analysis is conducted on a step by step basis simulating the fill placement. At each step a new tangent modulus and tangent Poisson's ratio is computed from the modulus equation given by Duncan and Chang and the Poisson's ratio given in the paper. The parameters for the equation are obtained from triaxial test data on samples prepared in accordance with field specifications. For the Oroville core material, the samples were impact compacted to field density and water content and, for the Oroville shell material the 3-ft drain samples were vibratory compacted to field density. The sample preparation and evaluation in this manner is the most realistic for construction analysis of embankments. The resilient moduli are not applicable to this case because the repetitive loading associated with resilient moduli is not realized in embankment construction.

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • A discussion of STRESSES AND MOVEMENTS IN OROVILLE DAM by F.H. Kulhawy and J.M. Duncan, Proc Paper 9016, July 1972.
  • Corporate Authors:

    American Society of Civil Engineers

    345 East 47th Street
    New York, NY  United States  10017-2398
  • Discussers:
    • Kulhawy, F H
    • Duncan, J M
  • Publication Date: 1973-10

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  • Accession Number: 00262398
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: Proc Paper 10038
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Nov 12 1974 12:00AM