Improving the Design of Low-Energy Rockfall Catch Fences

Low-energy rockfall catch fences are widely used along railways and roads to mitigate rock-fall hazards. A typical low-energy catch fence consists of double-twisted wire mesh, posts and ground anchors. Since there is no design guidance, numerical modelling is frequently used as an aid to their design. In this paper, three-dimensional finite element modelling of low-energy rock catch fences is presented, with special focus on the response of the wire mesh, which dissipates much of the impact energy. An accurate representation of the geome-try of the double-twisted wires is used, which enables proper simulation of their defor-mation. The parameters for the constitutive model for the wire are determined from experi-mental tests. Using this approach, good agreement between the numerical simulations of catch fence response to boulder impact and experimental data have been obtained.