Load testing and simulation of asymmetric cablenet used for flexible rockfall protection barriers

Flexible protection barriers are often located on the mountainsides in order
to decrease the risk of rockfall. In the present study, different scales of
experimental tests are considered, to gauge the behaviour and to estimate
the bearing capacity of a new type of cable-nets used for these flexible
barriers in case of quasi-static loads. A large experimental campaign
addressing cables characterization, as well as the behaviour of the constitutive cells of the net, which particular shape, a water drop shape instead of
the classical rings, induces asymmetric loading transfer. Finally, the net
behaviour itself is characterized through appropriate tests. These tests
highlighted the non-linear behaviour perceived at different scales and permitted to evaluate the bearing capacity of the various components.
Numerical simulations using the finite element code Abaqus were also conducted for the different components, a group of constitutive cells with
rigid or fuse clip or the whole net, to reproduce the behaviour observrved experimentally