Accounting for the variability of rock detachment conditions in designing rockfall protection structures

Abstract

This study is based on the analysis of the residual rockfall hazard at the elements at risk and accounts for the variability of the rock release parameters influencing the trajectory. The design of protection structures is conducted in two phases: a functional design phase consisting of quantifying the structure height from the rock passing height distribution and a structural design phase where the structure required capacity is assessed from the rock passing energy distribution. This framework is used on a well-documented study site for identifying the effects of the definition of the rocks release conditions, limited to the rock volume and falling height, on the design and efficiency of protection fences. The rock volume is modeled using a random variable, with different probabilistic laws. A probabilistic method is also used to analyze the effect of the rock volume distribution. These sensitivity analyses are conducted using a point estimate method for saving computation time. In this work, the initial falling height is shown to have a negligible influence on both the functional and structural designs of the fence. On the contrary, the rock volume range appears to be the leading parameter. The influence of the distribution law is shown to be of second order. The proposed approach may be extrapolated to other uncertain or variable parameters, as well as to other types of passive rockfall protective structures.