Dynamic Analysis of Rockfill Tailings Dams a Case Study Sarcheshmeh Dam

Tailings dams, due to methods and materials used in their construction are vulnerable structures to earthquake. In many cases storage of water over tailings is required to prevent aerial pollution or reduction in water consumption by the means of a recycling system, therefore failure of these kinds of dams not only induce affects similar to conventional water dams, but also may lead to irreversible damage to their surrounding environment due to toxic content of tailings. Sarcheshmeh Tailings dam, a rockfill dam with an inclined clay core, is 70 m height and necessity for increasing reservoir capacity has led to dam upgrading to a minimum level of 90 m; using downstream method. Different options have been studied in order to get the safest and most economical alternative. Vulnerability of dam site to earthquake has considerably affected the design issue. This paper represents the results of dynamic and pseudo-static analyses of this tailings dam. Dynamic analysis is carried out using the finite difference code FLAC (Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua, ITASCA).This code is able to take into account pore water pressure generation during construction and earthquake. Different acceleration time history records and soil models are used and results have been compared.