An experimental comparison of half-scale rockfall protection sandwich structures

• Published in: Structure Under Shock and ImpactWIT Press XI Vol. 113; pp. 15 - 26
• Main Authors: HEYMANN, A, LAMBERT, S, HAZA-ROZIER, E, VINCESLAS, G, GOTTELAND, P
• Format: Conference Proceeding Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Southampton WIT 2010; W I T Press; WIT Press
• Series: Structure Under Shock and ImpactWIT Press XI
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Buildings. Public works; Cellular structure; Civil engineering; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Dead loads; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Embankments; Emergency preparedness; Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics; Engineering geology; Environmental Engineering; Environmental Sciences; Exact sciences and technology; Geotechnics; Granular materials; Granular solids; Kernels; Material form; Physics; Protective structures; Rheology; Rockfall; Sandwich structures; Soil structure; Static loads; Structure-soil interaction; Cell structure; Rock mechanics; Granular material; Sandwich structure; boulders; Concrete; Structure soil interaction; Rockfalls; Experimental study; Reinforced soil; Civil engineering; Reinforced structure; SCRAPPED-TYRES; GABION; STRUCTURE DE PROTECTION; CHUTE DE PIERRES; RESISTANCE MECANIQUE
• DOI: 10.2495/SU100021
• ISBN: 9781845644666; 1845644662
• ISSN: 1746-4498

Protection against falling rocks often requires the building of civil engineering structures such as soil reinforced embankments. A recent development consists of building a sandwich cellular structure for this purpose. Cellular structures are efficient technological solutions widely used in civil engineering for various applications. These structures also appear to be well suited to resist rockfall and to act as protective structures against impacts. This paper investigates the behaviour of three sandwich structures based on half-scale experiments. The 1.5 m high cellular sandwich structures were leaned against a concrete wall with the facing made of geocells filled with a coarse granular material. Three different granular materials were used for the kernel part of the sandwich (between the facing and the wall). The experiments were carried out with dead load \“pendular” impacts by a 260 kg spherical boulder with maximal impact energy of 10 kJ. The aim was to evaluate the ability of each kernel material for reducing the stress on the concrete wall.