Performance of ethylene-vinyl acetate foam as cushioning material for rigid debris-resisting barriers

This paper reports an investigation on the performance of ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) foam when used as a cushion layer for rigid barriers used to resist debris flow. Large-scale pendulum impact tests were conducted to study the effects of layer thickness on cushion performance under six successive impacts. Results show that for the first impact at 70 kJ, the peak contact force with the EVA foam thickness of 500 mm is about twice larger compared to that of 1000 mm. Results also reveal that the cushion mechanism of elastic collapse of cell walls in the EVA foam results in peak contact forces and maximum transmitted loads that are up to 30 and 50% lower compared to gabions for the first impact at 70 kJ, respectively. The elastic behavior of EVA foam provides consistent cushioning efficiency. Furthermore, EVA foam is found to be susceptible to degradation by ultraviolet light so that a suitable coating layer is required for outdoor use. Polyurea was identified as a suitable coating material and a small-scale coating trial was performed to confirm this. Findings presented in this paper will have direct implications on the future design of cushion layers for rigid barriers used to intercept debris flows.