Nonlinear analysis of stress and strain for a clay core rock-fill dam with FEM

Based on the Duncan-Chang hyperbolic nonlinear elastic material model, this paper carried out the stress and strain numerical analysis of a clay core rock-fill dam, which is a certain building reservoir dam in Yunnan province. By loading on each layer step by step and with the static nonlinear finite element simulation of deposition, it obtained the results of the stress and deformation of the clay core rock-fill dam. The calculation showed that the great difference in deformation modulus causes non-smooth variations in deformation, stress and strain between the transition area and the rock-debris fill. From the analysis it can be seen that the present design of the dam is reasonable since no any abnormal stresses and deformations occurred in the dam. Moreover, this also indicated a feasible and provided a valuable evident for the optimization of cross-section zones in a project.