Seismic behaviour of dams to near fault and far fault ground motions: A state of the art review

Dams are constructed across the river to confine the water and utilize it for various purposes such as hydroelectricity generation, flood control, irrigation, etc. Failure of dams causes huge loss to property and lives. Dams, designed to be built in high seismicity areas, are prone to damage due to intensive earthquake events. Strong ground motions recorded in the vicinity of fault planes are generally considered as near fault (or near source) ground motions. Near fault ground motions possess considerably different features which have high damage potential. In last few decades, a lot of studies have been conducted on the identification, characterization and simulation of pulse-type and non pulse-type ground motions. However, researchers have paid attention to the seismic safety assessment of dams under near fault and far fault ground motions since the last decade. In this context, this present study reports a state-of-the-art review on the seismic behaviour of various types of dams under different ground motions, based on available literature. This study also describes existing modelling techniques of the dam-reservoir-foundation system, failure modes, seismic analysis method and seismic response of different kinds of dams to near fault and far fault earthquakes. Finally, the study attempts to find the research gaps, which should be given proper attention in the future.