A new approach to simulate the dynamic response of high-tensile chain-link drapery systems

Authors: Tahmasbi, S; Giacomini, A; Bucher, R; Buzzi, O

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DOI https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2025_52

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Tahmasbi, S, Giacomini, A, Bucher, R & Buzzi, O 2020, 'A new approach to simulate the dynamic response of high-tensile chain-link drapery systems', in PM Dight (ed.), Slope Stability 2020: Proceedings of the 2020 International Symposium on Slope Stability in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 813-822, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2025_52

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Abstract:
Rockfall draperies are gaining more popularity due to the ease of installation and reduced need for maintenance. Such systems have been around for more than 50 years but limited research has been conducted on their performance and dynamic response. Physical testing of drapery systems typically incurs very high cost and significant technical constraints, all of which can be reduced by resorting to numerical simulations. However, intricate modelling techniques required to capture the realistic response of the systems, leads to computationally expensive numerical models. This paper utilised the previously-developed modelling technique, called hybrid method, to present a computationally efficient numerical model of a chainlink drapery. Commercially available finite element package, ABAQUS/Explicit, was used in this study. The part of the mesh that is in contact with the block and potentially undergoes plasticity and damage was simulated using the real architecture of the wires, while the part of the mesh that remains elastic was simulated using homogenised shell surfaces. Preliminary results showed that the hybrid technique reduces the computational cost of the model to the great extent by reducing the number of degree of freedom as well as minimising the contact zones in the model. The results of the hybrid model were validated against the results of a baseline model, which was fully modelled using the real architecture of the wires. The computational efficiency of the model is also discussed. The developed hybrid model provides an efficient tool to study the dynamic response of drapery systems under different loading conditions.

Keywords: ABAQUS, numerical modelling, hybrid method, chain-link, rockfall drapery

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