Assessment of dynamic stability problems of embankment dam structures on micro- and macro-scale level, employing a coupled DEM-SPH approach
Manfred Scheikl and Barbara Schneider-Muntau, Wolfgang Fellin, Benjamin Cerfontaine (University of Southhampton), Bernhard Gems
Actual activities within net-zero ambitions require the construction and safe design of embankment dams for hydroelectric storage and pumped storage facilities. In recent decades, the selection of adequate methods to assess permanent displacements from failure states triggered by seismic loading has been intensively and controversially discussed. A new approach, coupling the Discrete Element Method (DEM) with Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) for assessing permanent displacement from seismic loading, shall be developed to overcome limitations from existing analytical methods. This also includes confirming the applicability of such an approach through element test simulations focusing on consolidated triaxial tests under drained and undrained, and monotonic and cyclic loading conditions.