FINITE ELEMENT MODELS TO SIMULATE LIGHTWEIGHT ROCKFALL PROTECTION STRUCTURES

Rockfall protection systems are highly flexible structures that can absorb large amounts of energy. Compared to rigid protection structures, these structures undergo large deformations upon impact and thus result in lower braking accelerations. This leads to an effective transfer of the load. Previous works have shown that the partly highly complicated real ring structures and rope constructions can be represented by simplified structural models, using the Finite Element Method (FEM), if the global behavior of the protective structure and the impacting objects is of interest. We discuss the appropriate modeling of the protective structures and sliding edge cables using the FEM in this work. Additionally the realization of the impact simulation by coupling particle methods and the FEM is briefly discussed.