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Geo-engineered buffer capacity of two-layered absorbing system under the impact of rock avalanches based on Discrete Element Method

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Abstract

Many rock avalanches were triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake on May 12, 2008 in southwest China. Protection galleries covered with a single soil layer are usually used to protect against rockfall. Since one-layer protection galleries do not have sufficient buffer capacity, a two-layered absorbing system has been designed. This study aims to find whether an expanded poly-styrol (EPS) cushion, which is used in the soil-covered protection galleries for shock absorption, could be positioned under dynamic loadings. The dynamic impacts of the two-layered absorbing system under the conditions of rock avalanches are numerically simulated through a 2D discrete element method. By selecting reasonable parameters, a series of numerical experiments were conducted to find the best combination for the two-layered absorbing system. The values of the EPS layer area as a percentage of the total area were set as 0% (S1), 22% (S2), and 70% (S3). 22% of the area of the EPS layer was found to be a reasonable value, and experiments were conducted to find the best position of the EPS layer in the two-layered absorbing system. The numerical results yield useful conclusions regarding the interaction between the impacting avalanches and the two-layered absorbing system. The soil layer can absorb the shock energy effectively and S2 (0.4-m thick EPS cushion covered with soil layer) is the most efficient combination, which can reduce the impact force, compared with the other combinations.

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Correspondence to Si-ming He.

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http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8438-6972

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9074-9298

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5945-7561

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1370-7518

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4388-9175

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4456-8485

http://orcid.org/orcid.org/0000-0003-3945-0570

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3152-9973

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Bi, Yz., He, Sm., Li, Xp. et al. Geo-engineered buffer capacity of two-layered absorbing system under the impact of rock avalanches based on Discrete Element Method. J. Mt. Sci. 13, 917–929 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-014-3354-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-014-3354-0

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