Application of a New Stochastic Rockfall Fragmentation Approach For Lumped Mass Simulations

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_42How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Rockfall; Fragmentation; Damage; Survival Probability; Impact; Trajectory

Abstract

The fragmentation of blocks upon impact during rockfall is a complex and significant phenomenon that remains poorly understood and inadequately modelled. The authors have conducted extensive experimental campaigns on artificial spherical rock-like specimens. The findings led to the first stochastic fragmentation prediction model based on the statistical distribution of material properties. The prediction of the number, mass and velocities of fragments based on the impact velocity of the falling block was obtained from the experimental observation. In addition, cumulative damage can be taken into account stochastically based on numerical studies. These findings have been implemented as a stochastic fragmentation approach into a lump mass trajectory simulator developed at The University of Newcastle. This paper presents the application of the new approach using two rock material strengths (high and medium). The influence of accounting for the damage accumulation and fragmentation of various block diameters (from 0.1 to 2 m) is shown through a sensitivity analysis. In addition, rockfall simulations of two block diameters of the two materials along a synthetic slope are performed and compared to unfragmented rockfall simulations using RocFall2 (Rocscience). The study indicates that considering block fragmentation and cumulative damage in rockfall simulations may significantly change the design of protection structures, as the blocks reaching a designated risk zone tend to be much smaller than those in simulations without fragmentation.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Davide Ettore Guccione
AU  - Guilherme Barros
AU  - Zhanyu Hung
AU  - Klaus Thoeni
AU  - Anna Giacomini
AU  - Oliver Buzzi
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/07
TI  - Application of a New Stochastic Rockfall Fragmentation Approach For Lumped Mass Simulations
BT  - Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference 2025 (RIC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 428
EP  - 435
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_42
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_42
ID  - Guccione2025
ER  -