ABSTRACT
More than 15% of the Soviet territory is exposed to strong earthquakes. Hazardous seismic zones are concentrated in mountainous systems such as the Carpathian Mountains, the Crimea, the Caucasus, Middle Asia, Peribaykal, Chukotka, the Far East, Sakhalin, and Kamchatka. Construction of dams in seismic regions can induce earthquakes. The design of an earth dam in a seismically active region is based on seismic data obtained from microseismic prospecting about the construction site. The seismologic practice depends on the applicability of design methods. The comparison of stress-strain analysis for various designs shows that dams with central diaphragm and core are identically subjected to earthquake effects, for their elastic characteristics of gravel-pebble and water-saturated cores are similar. Solution of the stress-strain problem arising under seismic loading is possible in finite-element method (FEM) formulation by implicit and explicit schemes. The stress-strain problems solved by FEM are based on the theory of oscillations.
