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Reliability and sensitivity analysis of global failure modes of concrete buttress dam monoliths
Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.
Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.
KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Civil and Architectural Engineering, Soil and Rock Mechanics. AFRY, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2584-1183
KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Civil and Architectural Engineering, Soil and Rock Mechanics.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8152-6092
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2027 (English)In: Reliability Engineering & System Safety, ISSN 0951-8320, E-ISSN 1879-0836, Vol. 277, article id 113175Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Research interest in reliability and sensitivity analyses of concrete dams has grown in recent decades, yet existing studies remain largely limited to gravity and arch dams and to case studies focused on earthquake events. To address this gap, this study aims to evaluate the reliability and sensitivity of concrete buttress dam monoliths using a simulated population based on existing Swedish designs with varying geometric properties such as height and width. Three failure modes, sliding, overturning, and combined sliding and overturning, were assessed under ice load and overtopping conditions. Reliability indices and local sensitivity measures were first estimated using first-order reliability analysis, after which polynomial chaos expansion metamodels were constructed to facilitate global sensitivity analyses. The results show that sliding has the lowest reliability, whereas overturning exhibits very high reliability and is generally not governing. Local sensitivity analyses indicate that rock-concrete interface friction dominates sliding and the combined failure mode, while concrete density is most influential for overturning. Global sensitivity analyses show that sliding reliability is primarily affected by front plate inclination, while overturning is mainly relevant for low monoliths or those with near-vertical front plates, and the combined mode is mainly influenced by asperity and front plate inclinations.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier BV , 2027. Vol. 277, article id 113175
Keywords [en]
Buttress dams, First-order reliability method, Polynomial chaos expansion, Reliability analysis, Sensitivity analysis
National Category
Infrastructure Engineering Applied Mechanics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-386794DOI: 10.1016/j.ress.2026.113175ISI: 001836092000001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105045593121OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-386794DiVA, id: diva2:2091235
Note

QC 20260811

Available from: 2026-08-11 Created: 2026-08-11 Last updated: 2026-08-11Bibliographically approved

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Westberg Wilde, MarieJohansson, Fredrik

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