Seismic Performance of Dam Piers Retrofitted with Reinforced Polymer Cement Mortar

• Main Authors: Yoshimi Sonoda, Hiroki Tamai, Hirotsugu Ikeda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: dam pier; reinforced concrete (RC); reinforced polymer cement mortar (RPCM); SRS method; seismic response analysis; FEM
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/16/7255

The deterioration of existing reinforced concrete (RC) structures is regarded as a problem worldwide. In Japan especially, the deterioration of RC dam structures has become severe. Many such dams meet design standards that were in place at the time of construction but do not meet the current seismic design standards, and appropriate seismic retrofitting is required. If the dam pier, which is an important part of the dam related to water storage, is damaged by an earthquake, the gate cannot be opened or closed, and the amount of water stored cannot be controlled. Therefore, the seismic retrofitting of dam piers is a top priority. However, various construction restrictions exist for dam piers, such as only the cross-section on the downstream side can be reinforced, and not on the upstream side where water is stored. Thus, it is difficult to apply the same reinforcement method that is applied to the piers of general road bridges. Therefore, in this study, we confirm the effectiveness of the SRS method (seismic retrofitting using cement mortar for shotcrete), which is suitable for partial reinforcement. Specifically, the dam piers of four types of existing dams were modeled using the three-dimensional finite element method, and a seismic response analysis was performed by inputting two types of seismic waveforms having different characteristics. As a result, the reinforcement effect of this method was verified according to structural characteristics. Furthermore, the effect of the reinforcement range on the reinforcement effect was clarified.