Long-Term Settlement of High Concrete-Face Rockfill Dam by Field Monitoring and Numerical Simulation

Abstract

High concrete-face rockfill dams (CFRDs) with heights of over 100 m have been quickly developed in recent years. The self-weight of rockfill materials causes creep deformation of the dam body. However, the creep analysis method of high CFRDs in finite element software is few, and sometimes, it can also not reflect the long-term performance of high CFRDs well. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out the secondary development in finite element software. This study developed a subroutine that can run in Finite Element Method (FEM) platform ABAQUS to simulate long-term creep deformation behavior of the rockfill materials more accurately. Then, a displacement back-analysis for parameters, based on the Xujixia high CFRD project, is performed by the neural network response surface method (BP-MPGA/MPGA). Remarkable agreements are observed between simulation and field monitoring results. The calibrated FEM model is used to predict stress and deformation behavior of the Xujixia high CFRD after three years of operation period. The result indicates that rockfill creep deformation has a significant impact on stress and deformation of the high CFRD during the operation. This research may predict long-term performance using FEM in the design stage for high CFRDs.