The precise study of the response of earth dams to earthquakes is one of the most complex issues in the field of soil structures. In this research, dynamic analysis of earth dam structures (a case study: Doyraj dam in the west of Iran) have been performed using 2D Finite Difference Method (2D F.D.M.). The aim of this study is to investigate accelerations, lateral (horizontal) and vertical displacements (i.e. settlements) due to earthquake occurrence. The results of dynamic analysis indicate that the performance of the dam is satisfactory for each one of the seismic scenarios considered in this investigation. The maximum settlements at the dam crest is considerably smaller than that of the dam freeboard, with maximum value of 540 mm, which is comparable to recommendation of the Department of Safety of Dams (DSOD). Depth of sliding surfaces is better shown in the Finn model, and the settlements based on the Finn model is about 2.5 times higher than that of Mohr model. In contrast to what is commonly accepted about earthquake acceleration (the increase in earthquake acceleration from the base to the top of the dam), it cannot generalize to all cases, and it can be limited to very strong dams or can be related to poor earthquakes.

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A recent widely researched solution is slope stabilization using a row of piles. In this study, the effects of fixed-tip pile and the subsequent pile length reduction, which finally bring about a reduction in stabilization costs were considered. This paper, presents novel analyses that were carried out in static condition. The analyses were performed using the limit equilibrium (LE) method and shear strength reduction (SSR) method, which approve of one another. Fixing pile tip was an efficient and applicable method for stabilizing earth slopes and reducing pile length.Results of these analyses were acceptable and were properly consistent with the results obtained by other researchers. The process of fixing end of pile were also carried out experimentally, and a new method proposed for this purpose, besides its simplicity, is cost effective and practical.The result of this investigation shows the effectiveness of the proposed method, in which, fixing the pile tip could enhance factor of safety (FOS) up to 55 percent.