Abstract
Rock sheds are widely used to prevent rockfall disasters along roads in mountainous areas. To improve the capacity of rock sheds for resisting rockfall impact, a sand and expandable polyethylene (EPE) composite cushion was proposed. A series of model experiments of rockfall impact on rock sheds were conducted, and the buried depth of the EPE foam board in the sand layer was considered. The impact load and dynamic response of the rock shed were investigated. The results show that the maximum impact load and dynamic response of the rock shed roof are all significantly less than those of the sand cushion. Moreover, as the distance between the EPE foam board and rock shed roof decreases, the maximum rockfall impact force and impact pressure gradually decrease, and the maximum displacement, acceleration and strain of the rock shed first decrease and then change little. In addition, the vibration acceleration and vertical displacement of the rock shed roof decrease from the centre to the edge and decrease faster along the longitudinal direction than that along the transverse direction. In conclusion, the buffering effect of the sand-EPE composite cushion is better than that of the pure sand cushion, and the EPE foam board at a depth of 1/3 the thickness of the sand layer is appropriate.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of Data/Materials: Data are available from the corresponding author on request.
References
Abdelrahman GE, Kawabe S, Tsukamoto Y, et al. (2008) Small-strain stress-strain properties of expanded polystyrene foam. Soils Found 48(1): 61–71. https://doi.org/10.3208/sandf.48.61
Bhatti AQ (2018) Computational modeling of energy dissipation characteristics of expanded polystyrene (EPS) cushion of reinforce concrete (RC) bridge girder under rockfall impact. Int J Civ Eng 16: 1635–1642. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40999-018-0304-1
Calvetti F, Di Prisco C (2012) Rockfall impacts on sheltering tunnels: real-scale experiments. Geotechnique 62(10): 865–876. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.9.P.036
Chen WS, Hao H, Hughes D, et al. (2015) Static and dynamic mechanical properties of expanded polystyrene. Mater Design 69: 170–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2014.12.024
Kawahara S, Muro T (2006) Effects of dry density and thickness of sandy soil on impact response due to rockfall. J Terramechanics 43(3): 329–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jterra.2005.05.009
Labiouse V, Descoeudres F, Montani S (1996) Experimental study of rock sheds impacted by rock blocks. Struct Eng Int 6(3): 171–176. https://doi.org/10.2749/101686696780495536
Meng XY, Jiang QH, Han J, et al. (2022) Experimental investigation of geogrid-reinforced sand cushions for rock sheds against rock block impact. Transp Geotech 33: 100717. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trgeo.2022.100717
Mineo S (2020) Comparing rockfall hazard and risk assessment procedures along roads for different planning purposes. J Mt Sci 17(3): 653–669. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5766-3
Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China (1995) Specifications for Design of Highway Subgrades (JTJ013-95).
Nigrelli G, Chiarle M, Merlone A, et al. (2022) Rock temperature variability in high-altitude rockfall-prone areas. J Mt Sci 19(3): 798–811. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-021-7073-z
Ouyang CJ, Liu Y, Wang DP, et al. (2019) Dynamic analysis of rockfall impacts on geogrid reinforced soil and EPS absorption cushions. KSCE J Civ Eng 23(1): 37–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-018-0704-4
Perera JS, Lam N, Disfani MM, et al. (2021) Experimental and analytical investigation of a RC wall with a gabion cushion subjected to boulder impact. Int J Impact Eng 151: 103823. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2021.103823
Pichler B, Hellmich C, Mang HA (2005) Impact of rocks onto gravel design and evaluation of experiments. Int J Impact Eng 31(5): 559–578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2004.01.007
Prisco CD, Vecchiotti M (2010) Design charts for evaluating impact forces on dissipative granular soil cushions. J Geotech Geoenviron 136(11): 1529–1541. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000363
Shen WG, Zhao T, Dai F, et al. (2020) Discrete element analyses of a realistic-shaped rock block impacting against a soil buffering layer. Rock Mech Rock Eng 53: 3807–3822. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-020-02116-0
Shen WG, Zhao T, Dai F (2021) Influence of particle size on the buffering efficiency of soil cushion layer against rockfall impact. Nat Hazards 108: 1469–1488. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-021-04741-6
Viani C, Chiarle M, Paranunzio R, et al. (2020) An integrated approach to investigate climate-driven rockfall occurrence in high alpine slopes: the Bessanese glacial basin, Western Italian Alps. J Mt Sci 17(11): 2591–2610. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-020-6216-y
Wang DP, Bi YZ, Zhou LK, et al. (2022) Experimental study on physical model of waste tennis ball-sand composite shed cushion under rockfall impact. B Eng Geol Environ 81: 193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-022-02643-w
Wang M, Liu YF, Cui LM, et al. (2023) A flexible three-module rock shed for rockfall protection: design and full-scale experimental investigation. Int J Civ Eng 21: 51–66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40999-022-00750-z
Wang ZF, Liu HD, He SM, et al. (2022) Field investigation and numerical simulation on rockfalls in Zhangmu town, Tibet, China. J Mt Sci 19(3): 740–755. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-021-7095-6
Wu Y, He SM, Li XP, et al. (2019) Dynamic response and optimization of an inclined steel rock shed by the graded energy dissipating method. J Mt Sci 16(1): 138–152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-018-5103-2
Xu ZH, Wang WY, Lin P, et al. (2020) Buffering effect of overlying sand layer technology for dealing with rockfall disaster in tunnels and a case study. Int J Geomech 20(8): 4020127. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0001751
Yan SX, Wang Y, Wang DP, et al. (2022) Application of EPS foam in rockfall galleries: Insights from large-scale experiments and FDEM simulations. Geotext Geomembranes 50(4): 677–693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2022.03.009
Yılmaz T, Kiraç N, Anil Ö, et al. (2018) Low-velocity impact behavior of two way RC slab strengthening with CFRP strips. Constr Build Mater 186(2018): 1046–1063. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.08.027
Zhao P, Xie LZ, He B, et al. (2018) Experimental study of rock-sheds constructed with PE fibers and composite cushion against rockfall impacts. Eng Struct 177(2018): 175–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.09.073
Zhao P, Xie LZ, Li LP, et al. (2018) Large-scale rockfall impact experiments on a RC rock-shed with a newly proposed cushion layer composed of sand and EPE. Eng Struct 175(2018): 386–398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.08.046
Zhao P, Yuan S, Li LP, et al. (2021) Experimental study on the multi-impact resistance of a composite cushion composed of sand and foam. Geotext Geomembranes 49(1): 45–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2020.09.004
Zhu C, He MC, Yin Q, et al. (2021) Numerical simulation of rockfalls colliding with a gravel cushion with varying thicknesses and particle sizes. Geomech Geophys Geo 7: 11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40948-020-00203-8
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province (No. 2022NSFSC1127) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2682023CX075).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
YU Bingxin: data curation, formal analysis, investigation, writing-original draft, writing-review and editing; ZHOU Xiaojun: methodology, supervision, writing-review and editing; TANG Jianhui: conceptualization, methodology, writing-original draft, supervision, writing-review and editing; ZHANG Yujin: data curation, formal analysis; ZHANG Yuefeng: data curation, formal analysis.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yu, B., Zhou, X., Tang, J. et al. Impact resistance performance and optimization of the sand-EPE composite cushion in rock sheds. J. Mt. Sci. 21, 676–689 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-023-8403-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-023-8403-0