Analysis of the mechanical behaviour of soft rockfall barriers

International audienceSoft rockfall barriers are complex structures that generally consist of a metallic net supported by steel posts and cables with brake elements. Several experimental and numerical studies have been carried out to evaluate their behaviour and a technical agreement in EU was recently established to certify these barriers based on experimental tests. Actually, manufacturers develop rockfall kits with their own technical specificities. The objective of the present paper is to determine the intrinsic properties of most common nets technologies and to investigate their influence on the overall mechanical behaviour of the structure. To this end, a comprehensive comparison between the local behaviours of the different nets is first presented using equivalent homogeneous membranes. Results derived for square nets under static concentrated loading illustrate the influence of the manufacturing technology on the deflection and stresses distribution. Then, a numerical and analytical model for the so-called "curtain effect" is developed and validated. In the conclusion, it is focused on the capacity of the pro-posed methodology to study and evaluate the response of the whole barrier