Toward a Generic Computational Approach for Flexible Rockfall Barrier Modeling

Flexible rockfall barriers are protection structures used to mitigate rockfall hazards in mountainous areas. The complex nonlinear mechanical behavior of these structures under impacts requires powerful modeling tools to perform structural analysis. In this article, a generic computational approach to rockfall barriers analysis is introduced. First, the generic formulation and numerical implementation in the GENEROCK software are detailed. Then, two barrier models are considered and validated against experimental full-scale tests on two different technologies. This numerical investigation permits insightful numerical investigation of the barriers’ behavior. Exploratory numerical simulations are eventually performed to highlight the strengths and generality of the proposed approach. The influence of the curtain effect modeling in simulation results is presented. The effects of repeated impacts on rockfall barriers are investigated and present new insight into barrier behavior and management practices. Stochastic modeling methods are also used to study the propagation of uncertainty and variability of the structure itself in its dynamic response.