Abstract:The physical parameters of rockfill materials and the loads on concrete-faced rockfill dam (CFRD) are all random variables. They give rise to the uncertainties of stress and deformation of CFRD. Therefore analyzing the structural reliability of CFRD is necessary and reasonable. Because of the complexities of the structure of CFRD and the nonlinear property of rockfill,it is very difficult to carry out the reliability analysis to this kind of structures. In this paper,the response surface method (RSM) for reliability analyses is adopted to calculate the reliability of CFRD and the corresponding calculation formula are derived. 3D nonlinear finite element method is applied to calculate stress and deformation of CFRD. The two-order RSM is applied to the reliability analyses of CFRD. According to a practical example,the calculation of anti-crack and anti-crash reliability of the face slab are conducted and better results are obtained. Compared with other reliability analysis methods,the proposed method is more precise,efficient and convenient.