Design of passive flexible barrier against rockfall impact with 8 000 kJ energy level

The protection level and domestic standard test level of commonly used passive flexible barriers against rockfall impact are not higher than 5 000 kJ, while bridges in mountains and other important transportation infrastructures are facing rockfall disaster threats with higher impact energy levels. Considering that the design method for passive flexible barriers with higher impact energy levels is lacking, to provide a feasible and reliable tool for the infrastructure engineers, the analysis and design of 8 000 kJ-level passive flexible barrier against rockfall impact were carried out at present based on the numerical simulation method. Firstly, by adopting the explicit dynamic software ANSYS/LS-DYNA, quasi-static tests, including the tensile test on single wire ring and three-ring chain, net puncturing test, and the dynamic impact test, i.e., 2 000 kJ rockfall impacting the full-scale passive flexible barrier, were numerically reproduced, and the reliability of the numerical simulation method was fully verified by comparing with the test data, i.e., the maximum breaking force and breaking displacement of the wire ring and its failure characteristics, the whole impact process of rockfall, and the cable force-time history curves, the influencing factors, i.e., the inclining angle, span, and height of the steel post and different specifications of energy dissipating devices ranging from 50 kJ to 70 kJ, on the dynamic behavior of the passive flexible barrier were further analyzed. The results show that the specification of the energy dissipation device is the most critical parameter controlling the internal force and displacement of the passive flexible barrier. The inclining angle of the steel post is recommended to be 10°. An increase in the post spacing can reduce the in-plane stiffness of the structure while having less effect on the transverse anchorage. An increase in the post height will cause a significant increase in the support reaction force at the post bottom. A reasonable adjustment of the anchorage position of each wire rope is required when the post height and spacing are changed. Finally, based on the results of parameter analysis, two design schemes for a passive flexible barrier against 8 000 kJ rockfall impact were given by adjusting the geometry of the structure, the specification of the energy dissipating device, and the addition of transmission support ropes. Both of them passed the test of the European standard EAD 340059-00-0106.