Experience with numerical modelling of dams

Experiences with FEM analyses of earth – and rockfill dams aiming at the safe design of their sealing elements against cracking and hydraulic fracturing are summarized in the paper. Particular attention is paid to field measurement results which were used to select design criteria for impervious core and basic assumptions for the computational and constitutive models. For this purpose strain paths in rockfill dams were derived from field measurements and interpreted by laboratory tests. The frequent occurrence of the stress path causing unloading in shear and the significance of displacements due to wetting and creep are emphasized and the corresponding algorithms described. Further the experiences are discussed and some selected applications presented.