Poromechanics-based long-term time-dependent deformation analysis for concrete dam

More than 60,000 reservoir dams with a height above 15m have been constructed worldwide. As of 2021, 3762 reservoir dams have breached, resulting in significant losses of lives and property. Instead of sudden causes, most dam failures typically stem from unexpected dam behavior evolving over a long period.
Dam displacement is widely recognized as the most intuitive reflection of dam behavior. Among the main components of overall dam displacement, irreversible time-dependent displacement is closely correlated with long-term safety of dams. However, quantifying time-dependent dam displacement remains challenging due to the complex interplay between environmental factors and dam behavior.
Aimed at predicting the long-term time-dependent deformation of concrete dams and analyzing field structural monitoring data, we studied a poromechanics-based thermo-hydro-mechanical model and developed a set of data-physics-driven analysis programs. Specifically, we investigated a water and gas transport model in concrete to understand the dam behavior in relation to the surrounding environment. Subsequently, building upon the works of Aili et al., we developed subroutines for the poromechanical viscoelastic model to account for the coupled creep and shrinkage in unsaturated concrete dams. The performance of the models and programs is verified with a series of benchmarks consisting of experimental data and field data.