Abstract:
This chapter is focused on the Portuguese experience on the development
and exploration of systems for continuously monitoring dam vibrations, using
accelerometers. The pioneer system for seismic and structural health monitoring
(SSHM) installed in Cabril dam (the highest Portuguese arch dam: 132 m high) is
described in detail. The design of this system was the result of a long-term LNEC
research program, still ongoing. These monitoring systems should include software
developed to automatically perform the analysis of collected data, including the
automatic comparison with numerical results from 3DFE models. In view of the
good results obtained with the system in operation in Cabril dam since 2008, similar
systems have been installed in other large dams in Portugal, particularly in recently
built dams. Finally, Baixo Sabor dam is presented as an example of a new Portuguese
dam with a complete SSHM system, in operation since 2015. Themain experimental
results obtained for both dams are shown, namely the evolution of natural frequencies
over time, mode shapes and the measured seismic response to earthquake events.