Naylor, D. J., Maranha, J. R., Maranha das Neves, E. & Veiga Pinto, A. A. (1997). GeÂotechnique 47, No.
2, 221±233
A back-analysis of Beliche Dam
D. J. NAY L O R ,  J. R . M A R A N H A ,  E . M A R A N H A DA S N E V E S {
a n d A . A . V E I G A P I N TO {
A back-analysis of the Beliche Dam in southern
Portugal is described. This dam was the subject
of a `Class A' prediction which grossly under-
predicted the actual settlement at the end of
construction. The analysis described here, which
incorporated an elasto-plastic critical state
model applied in terms of effective stress,
simulated the effect of collapse settlement and
by so doing reproduced a maximum settlement
which was close to that measured. The earlier
underprediction is attributed mainly to the fact
that that analysis did not include the collapse
settlement due to the partial impounding of the
reservoir which occurred before construction
was complete. The back-analysis described here
covers the period from the start of construction
in 1984 to approximately four years after the
®rst complete impounding in January 1988.
Comparisons are made between the calculated
and measured movements and stresses. Apart
from the good agreement with the maximum
recorded settlement, the measured settlements
generally exceeded the calculated values. Part of
the underprediction of settlements is attributed
to creep which the modelling did not attempt to
simulate and part to the in situ relative density
being less than that used in the tests from which
the parameters were determined. The computed
stress distributions indicated a favourable load
transfer from shell to core, thus con®rming the
safety of the dam against internal erosion due to
hydraulic fracture. It was, however, possible to
estimate from the settlement records how much
of the settlement is due to creep, and this has
been done. The conclusions underline the use-
fulness of the collapse settlement methodology.
KEYWORDS: collapse settlement; embankment dam;
®nite elements; measured performance.
Manuscript received 3 January 1995; revised manuscript
accepted 26 January 1996.
Discussion on this paper closes 1 September 1997; for
further details see p. ii.

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Wales,
Swansea.
{ LaboratoÂrio Nacional de Engenharia Civil, Lisbon.
221
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L'expose deÂcrit une analyse reÂtrospective du
barrage de Beliche dans le sud du Portugal. Ce
barrage avait fait l'objet d'une preÂdiction de
«classe A», qui a consideÂrablement sous-estimeÂ
le degre de tassement aÁ la ®n de la construction.
L'analyse deÂcrite ici, qui englobe un modeÁle
d'eÂtat critique eÂlastoplastique applique aÁ la
tension ef®cace, a simule les effets du tassement
de rupture et, ce faisant, a reproduit un tasse-
ment maximal proche du tassement mesureÂ.
La sous-estimation anteÂrieure est attribueÂe sur-
tout au fait que le tassement de rupture duÃ
au remplissage partiel du reÂservoir avant la ®n
des travaux n'a pas eÂte analyseÂ. L'analyse
reÂtrospective deÂcrite ici porte sur la peÂriode
qui s'eÂtend de la mise en chantier, en 1984,
jusqu'aÁ quatre ans environ apreÁs le premier
remplissage complet, en janvier 1988. Les
mouvements et tensions calculeÂs sont compareÂs
aux valeurs mesureÂes. Mise aÁ part la bonne
concordance mentionneÂe ci-dessus pour le tasse-
ment maximal enregistreÂ, les valeurs de tasse-
ment mesureÂes tendaient aÁ deÂpasser les valeurs
calculeÂes. La sous-estimation du tassement est
attribueÂe en partie au ¯uage, que la modeÂlisa-
tion n'a pas tente de simuler, et en partie au fait
que la densite relative en place eÂtait infeÂrieure aÁ
celle utiliseÂe dans les essais qui avaient servi aÁ
de®nir les parameÁtres. Les distributions calcu-
leÂes des tensions ont indique un transfert
favorable des charges du massif au noyau,
con®rmant ainsi que le barrage reÂsisterait aÁ
l'eÂrosion interne causeÂe par la fracturation
hydraulique. Il est toutefois possible d'estimer,
aÁ partir des releveÂs de tassement, dans quelle
mesure le tassement eÂtait duà au ¯uage, et cela
a eÂte fait. Les conclusions font ressortir l'utiliteÂ
de la meÂthodologie baseÂe sur le tassement de
rupture.
INTRODUCTION
Beliche Dam is located in the extreme south-east
corner of Portugal (Fig. 1). Construction started in
1982 and was completed in March 1985. After
partial impounding during construction (due to
unusually heavy rain) the reservoir reached its
normal operating level in January 1988. It is used
 222 NAYLOR, MARANHA, MARANHA DAS NEVES AND VEIGA PINTO

Fig. 1. Plan of dam showing surface markers: M (Montante), upstream; J

(Jusante), downstream; the numbers 25, 40, 45 and 54 are berm levels (54 is
crest level)

Fig. 2. Section P7 showing stress cells and piezometers

for water supply and irrigation. The dam has a low-
plasticity central clay core with supporting rock®ll
shells. Naylor et al. (1986) and Veiga Pinto (1983)
provide a more detailed description of it, and of
the laboratory test programme which preceded its
construction.
A feature of the dam is the relatively high
compressibility of the inner rock®ll shells (Fig. 2).
These are composed of fractured schists and
contain a signi®cant proportion of ®nes. This
material was intentionally of lower quality than
the outer shells, in which the rock®ll was mainly a
competent greywacke and contained less ®nes. The
rock®ll was placed in 1 m layers which were
relatively lightly compacted. This was an inten-
tional feature to ensure that there would be higher
vertical effective stress in the core, compared with
that which would have resulted had the shell been

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 BACK-ANALYSIS OF BELICHE DAM 223
more heavily compacted. This would reduce and (the `K± G', `hyperbolic' and `ECÿK 0 ' mod-
possibly reverse load transfer from the shell to the els) used in the early work.
core during both construction and subsequent (b) The analyses were in terms of effective stress
impounding when collapse settlement in the up- throughout, whereas previously the core had
stream shell would enhance the load transfer. This been analysed in terms of total stress, and,
would increase the vertical stress in the core, since impounding was not considered, there
particularly in the upstream part. As a consequence was no distinction between total and effective
the margin of safety against internal erosion would stresses in the shells.
be increased. The design is described more fully (c) Collapse settlement was modelled.
by Maranha das Neves (1980). It turned out that
The use of an elasto-plastic model was particu-
these measures were very effective.
larly appropriate for the post construction stages
Naylor et al. (1986) describe a `Class A'
since this class of model automatically provides
prediction of the construction performance of this
the increased incremental stiffness, owing to the
dam. Their maximum predicted settlement in the
effective stress path moving from the yield surface
centre of the dam at the end of construction was a
into the elastic region during impounding. In the
little over 0´4 m. The actual end-of-construction
present context this will mostly, if not entirely,
settlement was slightly over 1 m. These ®gures are
occur in nearly saturated regions so that the
not, however, directly comparable since in the
increase in stiffness will apply to the wetted
prediction it was assumed that the dam would be
material.
completed before impounding began, whereas in
Settlements in the dam can be classi®ed into
the event partial impounding occurred. Heavy rain
those due to effective stress changes, collapse
in January and February 1985 temporarily raised
settlement and creep. The analyses attempt to
the reservoir to elevation 29 m while at that time
reproduce the ®rst two but not the last. The
the ®ll surface had reached elevation 47 m, some
measurements do allow a crude (and somewhat
8 m below the ®nal crest level. This saturated the
subjective) separation of these three components so
major part of the upstream shell causing much of
that it is possible to compare the calculated and
the collapse settlement which had been expected to
measured movements.
occur after completion of ®ll placement. In the
®rst three months of 1985 the ®ll was raised to its
full height. The recorded settlement at this stage,
therefore, included that due to the collapse settle-
MEASURED PERFORMANCE
ment whereas the prediction did not. Later in this
Surface settlement markers, slope indicator
paper, an assessment of the accuracy of the
tubes, GloÈtzl total stress cells and standpipe piezo-
prediction in the light of what actually occurred
meters were installed in the dam during construc-
is made.
tion, with additional instrumentation added after
A ®nite element back-analysis of the construc-
its completion. The surface markers are located on
tion and subsequent impounding of the dam is
the upstream and downstream edges of the dam
described in this paper. It differs from the predic-
crest and on berms on the upstream and down-
tive analysis in three important respects.
stream faces. Their ®nal layout is shown in Figs
(a) A `critical state' elasto-plastic model was used 1 and 3. The inclinometers (I1 to I6) and the
rather than the `hypoelastic' types of model total stress cell groups (G1 to G10) are all located

Fig. 3. Section P7 showing inclinometers and surface settlement markers

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 224 NAYLOR, MARANHA, MARANHA DAS NEVES AND VEIGA PINTO

on section 7. These are shown in Figs 3 and 2

respectively. Fig. 2 also identi®es six piezometers
positioned close to the core stress cells. There
were additional piezometers on other sections.
Only the piezometers on section 7 and the settle-
ment markers on sections 6, 7 and 8Ðthe sections
through the highest part of the damÐwere used
in this study. There were three stress cells in
each group, oriented horizontally, vertically and at
458 so that the principal stresses or other invariants
in the plane of the dam cross-section could be
evaluated.
Owing to deformations in the dam during ®ll
placement the inclinometer tubes became distorted
so that the slope measuring instrument could not
be inserted. Consequently no measurements of
horizontal movements in these devices could be
taken during the construction period. Settlement
measurements were, however, obtained. When the
dam was completed additional inclinometers I2a,
I3a and I4a were installed close to the correspond-
ingly numbered originals. These recorded both
vertical and horizontal movements from August
1987. The additional settlement markers installed
after the dam was completed provided settlement
records from June 1986. Fig. 5. Vertical movement at I3 (full lines, measure-
The measurements relevant to the present study ments; broken lines, predictions)
are presented in Figs 4±12. Figs 4±6 show the
settlement pro®les obtained from inclinometers I1,

Fig. 4. Vertical movement at I1 (full lines, measure- Fig. 6. Vertical movement at I6 (full lines, measure-
ments; broken lines, predictions) ments; broken lines, predictions)

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 BACK-ANALYSIS OF BELICHE DAM 225

Fig. 7. Pore pressure distribution in the core: (a) end of construction, stage E; (b) reservoir full, stage F

I3 and I6 from the start of construction. Fig. 8 ANALYSIS

shows some of the measured piezometric levels in
the core. Figs 9 and 10 relate the surface
settlement to the reservoir level and to rainfall
records. Most of the settlement readings began in
June 1986, some 15 months after completion of
the dam, when an estimated 200 mm maximum
crest settlement had occurred. The settlement plots
of Fig. 9 have therefore been adjusted as indicated
in the ®gure to take this into account. Figs 11 and
12 show the vertical total stress measured by the
stress cells at levels 12´5 and 22´5 m at stages B,
C, E, F and L (see below). The results of the ®nite
element back-analysis are also shown in these
®gures.
Idealization of geometry
The dam was idealized as plane strain. A ®nite
element mesh comprising 156 six-noded linear
strain triangular elements with three-point numeri-
cal integration was used (Fig. 13). (The three
integrating points are one-third of the way along
the triangle medians. Naylor (1994) indicates that
this rule is better than the alternative in which the
points are at the midsides.)
Constitutive law and material parameters
The critical state model used was identical to
the plane strain version described in Chapter 7 of

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 226 NAYLOR, MARANHA, MARANHA DAS NEVES AND VEIGA PINTO
Fig. 8. Measured and idealized piezometric elevations
in the core: (a) elevation 37´5 m; (b) elevation 22´5 m;
(c) elevation 12´5 m
Naylor et al. (1981) except that the shape of the
yield surface in the region to the left of the critical
state was `¯attened' as shown in Fig. 14 so that
yielding occurred closer to the critical state line
than prescribed by the `full ellipse' version. The
¯attened part of the yield surface is also elliptical,
having a horizontal tangent at the critical state and
a vertical tangent where it meets the abscissa. The
amount of ¯attening is controlled by a parameter ì
(0 , ì < 1) as indicated in Fig. 14. Also, a cohe-
sion intercept has been added to the critical state
line.
This version of the critical state model differs
slightly from classical formulations (see, for
example, Scho®eld & Wroth (1968) or Atkinson
& Bransby (1978)) in that linear elasticity is
assumed within the yield surface and a simpli®ed
de®nition of the plastic compressibility is used.
This is de®ned by a parameter
ëÿk
÷ˆ
1‡e
where ë and k are the conventional loading and
unloading±reloading compression indices (based on
the natural logarithm of effective stress) and e is a
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Fig. 9. (a) Rainfall and reservoir level; (b) measured
(solid lines) and calculated (broken lines) surface
movements at marker M54 (positive horizontal move-
ment is downstream)
representative void ratio which is treated as con-
stant.
Excluding the ¯attening parameter ì, which can
be viewed as part of the speci®cation of the model
itself and has been selected equal to 0´5 without
reference to the measured characteristics of the
material, six material parameters are needed to
de®ne the material properties. These are the elastic
Young's modulus E, Poisson's ratio í, ccs , öcs
(related to the critical state line), ÷ and ó co (which
measures the initial size of the yield surface).
The parameter values chosen are given in Table
1. Two sets of values are provided, the `dry' set
relating to the as-placed materials and the `wet'
set relating to the fully saturated material. The
collapse settlement analyses involve switching from
the dry to the saturated set as explained in the
`collapse settlement' section below.
These parameters were based on laboratory
tests carried out prior to the construction of the
dam. Relevant stress±strain curves are included in
Naylor et al. (1986) where they are compared with
 BACK-ANALYSIS OF BELICHE DAM
Fig. 10. Measured and calculated surface movements
(positive horizontal displacement is downstream)
the curves produced by the variable elastic models
used in the predictions in that paper. Fig. 15
compares the measured triaxial test curves on the
inner shell `soft rock' (which are the same as in
Fig. 13a of Naylor et al. (1986)) with corresponding
curves using the critical state model incorporating
the parameters given in Table 1. A similar com-
parison is given on p. 288 of Maranha das Neves
(1990) where the critical state predicted laboratory
test curves are also compared with those predicted
by the KÿG model. (The critical state model
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227
parameters used then were slightly different from
those used here but the difference is not enough to
invalidate the comparisons.) Both models provided
a rough match to the experimental curves. Fig. 15
is representative of this match. The samples used
in the tests performed before the construction of
the dam had a relative density similar to that
intended to be used for the placed material. As
discussed below, there is evidence that at least some
of the ®ll was placed at a lower density than in the
tests used for parameter determination. In the
comparison in Fig. 15 experimental test data for
an initially saturated sample were not available,
only those for a sample saturated after a deviatoric
strain of approximately 10% had been applied. The
computed curves, however, are provided both for
an initially saturated sample and for a sample
saturated at 10% strain when the collapse settlement
algorithm was applied. It should be noted that the
two computed curves converge towards the same
deviatoric stress as a further 10% of strain is
applied.
Known-pore-pressure-change analyses
The `known-pore-pressure-change' (k.p.p.c.)
technique (Naylor et al., 1981) was used to allow
an effective stress approach to be used throughout.
Functions were de®ned to approximate the meas-
ured pore pressures, which became part of the
input data. Tong (1992) used this approach in
KÿG model analyses of this dam. Fig. 8 shows
how the idealization compares with the measured
pore pressures (expressed as piezometric eleva-
tions) for the reservoir full condition, averaged
over the period 1989±1992.
Collapse settlement
Collapse settlement was modelled as described
by Naylor et al. (1989). The procedure is in the
®rst instance a `material property change' analysis.
That is, it computes the response of a body (the
dam) due to a change of the material properties
from one set of values (the dry set) to another (the
wet set). The cause of the change of the properties
is of no interest as far as the analysis is concerned.
The analysis is complicated by the presence of
Archimedean uplift, which, at least in the case of
®rst ®lling, coincides with the collapse settlement.
The essence of the procedure is as follows. Let
ó d represent the pre-saturation (dry) state of stress
at a point in the ®ll. The change in material
properties associated with saturation is then ima-
gined to occur without any strains being allowed to
take place. This yields the so called `clamped'
stress state ó c . How this is done is a central part
of the method. It involves calculating the strain
path associated with loading a dry sample along a
 228 NAYLOR, MARANHA, MARANHA DAS NEVES AND VEIGA PINTO

Fig. 11. Vertical stress at elevation 12´5 m (the full line is the computed vertical stress and the pore pressure is
assumed)

stress path from the stress origin to ó d , and then
loading a wet sample along this same strain path.
The ®nal stress point is ó c . Originally the dry
stress path was assumed (arbitrarily) to be a
straight line from the origin. Subsequent research
has shown that ó c is insensitive to the shape of the
dry stress path so that any convenient path shape
can be used. Farias (1993) and Naylor et al. (1993)
found it expedient to use the actual path followed
during construction and that has been done here.
(Note that this `actual' path is not the path
followed during the saturation process. The paths
from the origin described above are purely com-
putational devices to obtain the imaginary clamped
stress ó c . Physical criteria cannot, therefore, be
used to select their shape. The criterion is simply
that of convenience.)
Having determined ó d and ó c at the stress
sampling points (usually the integrating points in
each ®nite element), one uses standard procedures
based on virtual work to convert ó d ÿ ó c to equi-
valent nodal forces. Application of these simulates
the restoration of equilibrium associated with the
release of the conceptual clamps. As ó c is invar-
iably less compressive than ó d these forces cause
compression, thereby simulating the `collapse'.
The ®nal stage is the application of the
Archimedean uplift if this is applicable. In the
special circumstances of the present analysis, uplift
was not modelled for the premature ¯ooding to
elevation 29 m since the rising of the reservoir to
this level and its fall back to approximately ele-
vation 10 m was modelled as a single stage. Con-
sequently, it was appropriate to apply collapse on
its own for this stage. This uplift was subse-
quently applied during the impounding stage up to
elevation 29, and it was applied together with
collapse settlement between elevations 29 and
49 m. No uplift was applied in the last of the
nine stages in the analysis (see below) in which
the collapse settlement was assumed to be due just
to rainfall.

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 BACK-ANALYSIS OF BELICHE DAM 229

Fig. 12. Vertical stress at elevation 22´5 m (the full line is the computed vertical stress and the pore pressure is
assumed)

Fig. 13. Finite element mesh

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 230 NAYLOR, MARANHA, MARANHA DAS NEVES AND VEIGA PINTO

Fig. 14. Critical state model yield surface: `¯attened'

yield surface

Stages
The construction and subsequent impounding
was idealized in nine stages. The letters in square
brackets identify the ends of the corresponding
stages. The pore pressure distributions assumed in
the core (which are approximations to the meas-
ured pore pressures) are shown in Fig. 7. Hydro-
static pore pressure distributions were assumed
from the impounded level upstream of the core and
from original ground level (10 m) downstream of
the core. The stages were
(a) excavation and back®ll to original ground
(®nal water table at original ground level)
(b) construction to elevation 20 m
(c) construction to elevation 29 m (June 1984) [A]
(d) construction to elevation 38 m (September
1984)
(e) construction to elevation 47 m (December
1984) [B]
( f ) collapse settlement in upstream shell up to
elevation 29 m due to the temporary impound-
ing to that level in January=February 1985 [C]
( g) completion of construction to elevation 55 m
(March 1985) [E]
(h) impounding to elevation 49 m including col-
lapse settlement in the upstream shell above
elevation 29 m (January 1988) [F]
(i) collapse settlement in the downstream shell
due to rain percolation (1988±1992) [L]
Fig. 15. Triaxial compression test with saturation
Results of the analysis
Figures 4±6 compare the calculated and meas-
ured settlement pro®les on the inclinometers I1, I3
and I6, and calculated surface settlements are com-
pared with the measurements in Figs 9 and 10.
Calculated vertical stress pro®les on horizontal
sections at elevations 12´5 and 22´5 m are included
in Figs 11 and 12 for comparison with the meas-
ured pro®les. In addition, calculated and measured
total stresses at the end of construction (stage E,
March 1985) are tabulated in Table 2 and at the
end of the impounding (stage F, January 1988) in
Table 3. The two sets of values predicted by
Naylor et al. (1986) are included in brackets in
Table 2. These stresses are given in the form of
the invariants ó s and ó d, where ó s ˆ (ó 1 ‡ ó 3 )=2
and ó d ˆ ó 1 ÿ ó 3, ó 1 and ó 3 denoting the major
and minor principal stresses.

Table 1. Beliche Dam critical state model parameters

E: MPa í ccs : kPa öcs : degrees ÷ n ó co : kPa
Core 30 0´2 30 25 0´006 2 40
Filter 45 0´2 20 40 0´006 2 45
Inner shell (dry) 45 0´3 22 41 0´006 2 40
Inner shell (wet) 21 0´3 10 34 0´01 2 25
Outer shell (dry) 90 0´2 35 50 0´0025 2 80
Outer shell (wet) 80 0´2 25 48 0´0025 2 60
Foundation 60 0´28 25 35 0´005 2 50

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 BACK-ANALYSIS OF BELICHE DAM 231

Table 2. Measured and calculated total stress invariants at end of construction (Stage E).
Load Zone Measured Calculated
cell
ó s : kPa ó d : kPa ó s : kPa ó d : kPa
G1 Inner shell 637 881 497 (561) [620] 249 (592) [695]
G2 Core 539 224 639 (456) [442] 301 (392) [276]
G3 Core 531 313 631 (481) [468] 199 (432) [324]
G4 Core 443 200 619 (459) [442] 260 (396) [278]
G5 Inner shell 1070 1080 585 (559) [620] 370 (597) [699]
G6 Inner shell 304 186 336 (402) [431] 138 (417) [502]
G7 Filter 469 295 630 (517) [477] 653 (628) [578]
G8 Core 327 35 499 (322) [330] 253 (256) [243]
G9 Core 313 193 483 (366) [352] 167 (343) [267]
G10 Core Ð Ð 468 (322) [329] 210 (257) [245]

( ) LNEC and [ ] Swansea predictions (Naylor et al., 1986).

Table 3. Measured and calculated total stress invar- pally to settlements which took place in this region
iants at the end of the ®rst ®lling of the reservoir during the three-year period (1985±1988) when the
(stage F) reservoir was ®lled. This is shown in Fig. 6 by the
Load Zone Measured Calculated settlements between lines B and F, and in Fig. 10
cell by the settlement of surface marker J40. The 0´2 m
ó s: ó d: ó s: ó d: surface settlement of J40 at the start of 1985
kPa kPa kPa kPa
correlates with the heavy rain and premature
G1 Inner shell 610 724 675 200 impounding at that time. It seems that this caused
G2 Core 585 268 697 203 collapse settlement not incorporated in the analy-
G3 Core 629 280 571 72 sis. Collapse settlement was incorporated for the
G4 Core 528 166 575 226 ®nal stage F to L and it can be seen from Fig. 10
G5 Inner shell 1050 1082 589 422
G6 Inner shell 429 218 454 144
that this roughly correlates with the settlements
G7 Filter 439 188 708 656 during this stage. Regarding the underprediction
G8 Core 420 140 524 236 of settlements shown in Fig. 6 below about eleva-
G9 Core 395 182 457 14 tion 12, the `dog-leg' in the measured settlement
G10 Core Ð Ð 453 132 pro®les suggests some error in the measurements
here. If the curves followed the same patterns as
those for the other inclinometers then reasonable
agreement with the calculated pro®les in this
region would have been obtained. It is also worth
DISCUSSION noting the association between the drop in the
The most important feature in the performance level of the reservoir which took place in 1993 and
of this dam has been the major contribution of the increase in settlement, combined with a tilt in
collapse settlement to the deformations. A lesser, the upstream direction, which were measured in
but not insigni®cant, factor has been the contribu- the crest (surface markers M54 and J54). These
tion of creep. We shall consider ®rst the former effects were almost negligible at a lower level in
and then the latter. Then we shall comment on the the downstream slope (surface marker J40). This is
stresses and, ®nally, on the safety of the dam. due to the reduction of the Archimedean uplift.
The 1986 predictions grossly underestimated the It is important to note that the parameters used
settlements, principally because of the unforeseen in this work were based on the pre-construction
and temporary rise of the reservoir to elevation laboratory tests as were the parameters for the
29 m before construction had been completed. The 1986 prediction. The fact that different models (the
present modelling has taken this into account by variable elastic models) were used in the earlier
using the collapse settlement algorithm to include work is not thought to be signi®cant since a repeat
this premature impounding as a stage in the of the present analysis with the KÿG model using
construction process. It has been largely successful parameters close to those used previously gave
in reproducing the measured settlements in the settlement distributions similar to those obtained
centre of the dam, although they are underpredic- by Tong (1992). Recent analyses by Azevedo Filho
ted on the crest and in the downstream part of the (1990) and Santos Pereira (1992) of the same dam
dam. using the sophisticated elasto-plastic Lade model
Underprediction in the downstream region in the also underpredicted the maximum settlements.
vicinity of inclinometer I6 (Fig. 6) relates princi- They calculated smaller displacements than in the

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 232 NAYLOR, MARANHA, MARANHA DAS NEVES AND VEIGA PINTO
present work, even though in Azevedo Filho
(1990) collapse settlement was modelled.
The underprediction of the surface markers is
believed to be partly due to a combination of
additional collapse settlement due to rainfall and
to creep. A further likely reason for the under-
prediction is that the dam was less heavily
compacted in the top 10 m and in the downstream
shoulder. It is believed that at least in this region
and possibly also at lower levels the in situ relative
density was less than that used in the tests to
determine the stiffness parameters. This would
explain the underprediction of the settlements.
An attempt was made to model the effect of
rainfall by making the somewhat arbitrary assump-
tion that it caused 100% collapse settlement (i.e.
the `wet' parameters of Table 1 were applied to all
the previously unsaturated rock®ll) after comple-
tion of impounding, that is, after 1987. This
accounts for all the computed settlements for the
stage F to L. Since the analysis used the measured
pore pressures and was in terms of effective stress
it is not thought that any signi®cant settlement was
due to failure to model primary consolidation
effects. In fact the records indicate that there was
little consolidation settlement due to dissipation of
excess pore pressures, such as would be expected
in a core that was placed wet. No attempt was
made in the analysis to model the effects of partial
saturation as, for example, has been proposed by
Alonso et al. (1990). This effect is thought to be
small in the rock®ll and not appropriate in this
case in the core, since the measured pore pressures
were generally positive. Had there been extensive
suctions, negative pore pressures to cause an
appropriate level of effective stress would have
been assumed, while at the same time assuming
full saturation. This rather simple approach has
been used by Naylor et al. (1993) for the analysis
of clay ®lls.
The records of rainfall and surface settlements
(Figs 9 and 10) show a clear correlation of the rate
of settlement with rainfall. Making the assumption
that the increased settlement due to rainfall is
collapse settlement and that the background settle-
ment (that occurring when there is no rain, and no
signi®cant changes in the reservoir level), is creep,
a rough separation of the two can be made. Doing
this for the three marker locations M54, J54 and
J40, and taking the averages on three sections 6, 7
and 8 gives the data presented in Table 4. This
applies to the post-reservoir-full stage (F to L).
As no attempt was made to model creep in the
®nite element analyses, it can be seen that a better
agreement between measured and calculated set-
tlements is obtained if the estimated creep settle-
ments are subtracted from the measured totals.
It is suggested that the same methodology as
has been used to model collapse settlement may
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Table 4. Separation of post-impounding settlement
into creep and collapse settlement
Location Collapse Creep: m Total: m
settlement: m
M54 0´30 0´20 0´50
J54 0´10 0´15 0´25
J40 0´05 0´10 0´15
also be useful for predicting creep. This is
essentially a very crude approach as time is not
a variable in the collapse settlement model. It is
therefore implicit that the creep deformations at a
particular stage in the life of a structure are to
be predicted, rather than their evolution with time.
To use the collapse model to predict creep it is
necessary simply to select appropriate `wet' para-
meters which reproduce the reduced stiffness (and
possibly also strength) due to creep. This has not
been attempted in the present work, mainly be-
cause of the lack of criteria to select these para-
meters.
The data presented in Tables 2 and 3 and Figs
11 and 12 show a poor correlation between
measured and computed stresses. This was not
unexpected, on account of the inherent dif®culty
in measuring stresses. Two reasons for this are
identi®ed: the dif®culty in ensuring that the
stiffness of the soil back®ll around the cell is
representative and local variations in stress asso-
ciated with local variations in the stiffness of the
compacted ®ll. A third source of error, namely that
of the ®ll particles being large compared with the
stress cells, was eliminated by placing ®ner
material in the cell contact zone. Since the ®nite
element calculated stresses do satisfy equilibrium
(a ®rst requirement of the analysis) and depend on
the relative stiffnesses of the different zones rather
than on their absolute values, they can be expected
to be meaningful. The important point is that the
relative stiffnesses of the different zones should be
correctly reproduced. The extent to which this is
achieved can be judged by the ability of the
analysis to reproduce the relative deformations of
the different zones. No ®rm conclusions can be
drawn for the present case except to make the
judgement that the computed stress distributions
are more credible than the measured.
Finally, the computed stress distributions (Figs
11 and 12) con®rm the design intention that high
compressive effective stress should persist in the
core at all times. This ensures the safety of the
dam against hydraulic fracture and the possibility
of ensuing internal erosion. Favourable load trans-
fer to the core from the soft rock®ll shells both
during construction and, to a greater extent, during
impounding as a consequence of collapse settle-
ment has been demonstrated by the analyses.
 BACK-ANALYSIS OF BELICHE DAM
CONCLUSIONS
A ®nite element back-analysis of the construc-
tion and reservoir ®lling of the Beliche Dam has
been successfully carried out. The analyses in-
corporated an elasto-plastic `critical' state model
applied in terms of effective stress. Measured pore
pressures were used as part of the input. A novel
feature of these analyses was the simulation of
collapse settlement. No attempt was made to
model the additional settlement due to creep.
Parameters based on the laboratory tests carried
out prior to the construction of the dam resulted in
reasonably good predictions of settlements in the
centre of the dam but underpredicted the settle-
ment on the crest and in the downstream part. This
underprediction is partly attributed to differences in
relative density between that in the tests used for
parameter determination and that in the dam, and
to the effects of creep.
The gross underprediction of the maximum
settlement of the dam in the `Class A' predictions
of Naylor et al. (1986) is almost entirely due to
the effects of collapse settlement which were not
included in that earlier work. Inclusion of collapse
settlement more than doubles the predicted maxi-
mum settlement. It is concluded, therefore, that
collapse settlement was indeed responsible for
most of the settlement in the dam.
A rough separation of creep settlements from the
settlements due to collapse and effective stress
changes has been made (Table 4). These settlements
are relatively small. If they are subtracted from
the measured settlements a signi®cantly improved
agreement with the calculated results is obtained.
The collapse settlements methodology may have
a role in creep prediction. This is no more than a
suggestion as it was not used in this role in the
present work. As the method does not explicitly
incorporate the effect of time it could only be used
to predict creep at a particular time.
There was a notable lack of agreement between
calculated and measured stresses. This is attributed
largely to the well-known dif®culties in obtaining
representative measurements of stress.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Most of the work for this paper was carried out
under EC Grant No. SCI -CT91-0755(TSTS) `Col-
lapse settlement and creep in low grade rock®ll
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233
structures'. The ®nancial support provided by
Praxis XXI (Portuguese Ministry of Planning) to
the second author is gratefully acknowledged.
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