Low energy rock fall protection fences in forested areas: experiments and numerical modeling

This paper presents the first steps towards the development of an innovative type of rockfall protection fence on forested slopes specially designed for low energy events. The fence is made of a hexagonal wire mesh and it is tightened between two supporting trees. The behavior of the fence has been evaluated thanks to real scale experiments performed in situ. Rocks with a mean mass of 200kg have been thrown on the fence, with a velocity of 17m/s. Based on a discrete element model, numerical simulations has allowed the estimation of the influence of parameters related to the block trajectory. The results obtained are encouraging and should lead to the development of efficient low energy fences to be used on forested slopes.