STATE OF ART IN RESEARCH AND DESIGN METHODS OF REINFORCED SOIL EMBANKMENT FOR ROCKFALL PROTECTION

Reinforced soil embankments are one of the common structures for rockfall protection in engineering. It is usually used in mountainous areas where giant rocks fall frequently or where rocks roll down at high speed. It can stop rockfall with high impact energy effectively. However, the design methods of the reinforced soil embankments for rockfall protection are not perfect as(1)the large and irreversible deformations induced, (2)the complex elastic-plastic stress-strain relationship of reinforced soil, and (3)the interaction between different components. This paper presents an overview of the state of art and the design methods in the field of the rockfall protection reinforced soil embankments. The impact response of protection reinforced soil embankments is elaborated. This paper discusses their design methods, from the aspects of block's trajectory control and stability of embankments. The comparisons and shortcomings of the design methods are also discussed. It points out that the rotational kinetic energy of the block can't be ignored in the study. It also shows that further investigation is needed in the aspects of maximum impact force calculation method and analysis method of impact response.