Full-Scale Dynamic Analysis of an Innovative Rockfall Fence Under Impact Using the Discrete Element Method: from the Local Scale to the Structure Scale

In order to protect infrastructures against rockfalls, civil-engineered mitigation measures are widely used. Flexible metallic fences are particularly well suited to stop the propagation of blocks of rock whose kinetic energy can reach 5000 kJ before impact. This paper focuses on the design of highly flexible rockfall fences under the new European guideline ETAG027. The experimental testing and the numerical modeling using the discrete element method (DEM) of a new metallic rockfall fence are presented. Several scales of study were considered; the mesh, the net and the entire structure. The calibration of the DEM models is described and a parametrical study is proposed. The latter aims to underline the type of information that can be obtained from numerical simulations of such a system to enhance its design.