The High-Position Seismic Isolation of the Whiplash Effect of Gravity Dams

To avoid the through cracks in the upper part of the gravity dam near the geometrical change of the downstream slope because of the whiplash effect, the high-position seismic isolation is proposed to reduce the dynamic response of dam head in this paper. The characteristics and principles of the high-position seismic isolation are introduced. Koyna Dam is taken as a test case and the dam-reservoir-foundation-seismic isolation cushion interaction model is established. The nonlinear time history analysis of the dam, with or without the isolation, is performed using ADINA program to compare the effect of the seismic isolation. The research result provides a new idea with the aseismic design of gravity dam.