Abstract
A 1:1 flexible rock shed made of flexible nets and steel-vaulted structure is manufactured and tested for functional evaluation with impact experiment previously. To further discuss the performance of this structure under the impact of rockfalls and to improve the design, numerical simulation for this structure is carried out in this paper. Firstly, the simplified numerical models for characterizing the mechanical behavior of the ring nets and wire meshes are deduced. Then, a detailed finite element model for the flexible rock shed is developed for impact analysis. By comparing the experimental data, the numerical model for the flexible rock shed is shown to be reliable in predicting the dynamic behavior of the flexible rock shed. Finally, combined with the numerical simulation results and experimental results, an improved design is presented, and the numerical simulation results show that the energy dispersion in the improved design of the rock shed is more equalized, and damages on the steel-vaulted structure are much improved.
Highlights
With transportation construction extended to the western mountain area in China, the rockfall disaster is becoming more and more universal [1]. e reinforced concrete rock shed is widely used for rockfall protection in China and other countries (Figure 1)
In order to overcome such construction difficulty and to reduce costs, a new type of flexible rock shed is proposed (Figure 2(a)). e structure is mainly composed of steel-vaulted structure (Figure 2(b)) and flexible nets (Figure 2(c)) and is designed to stand for an impact energy of about 250 kJ considering the low-to-medium impact energy of rockfall hazard scenarios [6]
E flexible rock shed mixes the flexible barriers and structural rock sheds, and the protection mode for this structure differs from the flexible barriers but the same as the rock shed. erefore, this solution possesses the advantages of both the flexible barriers and the concrete rock shed and overcomes some limits on them
Summary
With transportation construction extended to the western mountain area in China, the rockfall disaster is becoming more and more universal [1]. e reinforced concrete rock shed is widely used for rockfall protection in China and other countries (Figure 1). The impact load on these structures is large under the impact of rock block, the volume and the weight of the structures would be increased, and the large deep burial and large section foundation would be needed [2,3,4,5]. For these reasons, the construction is usually very difficult and needs increasing the costs. Erefore, this solution possesses the advantages of both the flexible barriers and the concrete rock shed and overcomes some limits on them. A 1:1 flexible rock shed is manufactured and tested for functional evaluation with an impact experiment a few years ago, and it is shown that the structure can stand for an impact energy of about 250 kJ without observable rupture of the flexible nets or cables and can be put into service again with some maintenance on the steel-vaulted structure [7]. ough full-scale field test is of vital importance in the design process, field test cannot provide detailed information such as energy absorption in
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