In this work the finite element implementation of thermal analysis of concrete dams is described. The different temperature boundary conditions are properly represented. For the exposed face of the dam both convection/radiation ...

A methodology is proposed for dealing with the unbalanced stresses that arise from numerical models due to topography effects when horizontal stresses are applied at the vertical boundaries. The proposed methodology is ...

Recent regulations introduced a limit state approach to geotechnical design by using representative values of the actions and of the strength parameters, partial safety factors that affect them, and by including safety ...

This paper presents a study on seepage in a gravity dam foundation carried out with a view to evaluating dam stability for the failure scenario of sliding along the dam/foundation interface. A discontinuous model of the ...

This paper presents the application of a methodology which can be used to assess arch dam foundation stability, using the discrete element method (DEM) and the code 3DEC. A global three-dimensional model of a dam foundation ...

Hard soils/ soft rocks (HSSR) are natural materials where the bonds between particles have important contribution to their strength and stiffness. Progressive rupture of these bonds affects irreversibly the hydro-mechanical ...

Large flat jack tests are used to assess rock mass deformability in the design stages of large projects. This test consists in cutting a thin slot in the rock mass in which a flat jack with large dimensions is inserted; ...

This paper presents the application of a methodology which can be used to assess arch dam foundation stability, using the discrete element method (DEM) and the code 3DEC. A global three-dimensional model of a dam foundation ...

Summary: A Bayesian estimator with informative prior distributions (a multi-normal and an inverted gamma distribution), adequate to displacement estimation at dam monitoring net-works, is presented. The hyper-parameters ...