Time-domain dynamic analysis of dam–reservoir–foundation interaction including the reservoir bottom absorption

In this paper, time-domain dynamic analysis of dam–reservoir–foundation interaction is presented by coupling the dual reciprocity boundary element method (DRBEM) in the infinite reservoir and foundation domain and the finite element method in the finite dam domain. An efficient coupling procedure is formulated by using the sub-structuring method. The effects of the reservoir bottom absorption are included in the formulations. Sharan's boundary condition for the far-end of the infinite fluid domain is implemented. To verify the proposed scheme, numerical examples are carried out by comparing with the available exact solutions and finite–finite element coupling results for the dam–reservoir interaction. A complete dam–reservoir–foundation interaction is also studied by including the bottom absorption effects. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.