Experimental Study on Impact Responses of Geofoam Reinforced Sand Cushion for Rockfall Hazard Mitigation

Xiaoyu Meng (), Qinghui Jiang, Huajian Gao and Hanlin Feng
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Xiaoyu Meng: College of Pipeline and Civil Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Qinghui Jiang: School of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Huajian Gao: College of Pipeline and Civil Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Hanlin Feng: College of Pipeline and Civil Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-16

Abstract: In rockfall hazard mitigation, geofoam has been used in the cushion layer to improve the sustainability of the rockfall gallery, such as impact resistance enhancement and dead load reduction. Impact tests were conducted to study the effect of geofoam type, thickness, and impact energy on the impact responses of the sand cushion layer. The test results showed that placing geofoam in the sand cushion can reduce the peak impact force of the rockfall and the peak acceleration of the gallery slab by up to 80%. While the peak impact stress at the cushion layer bottom can also be reduced by geofoam under low impact energy, thicker geofoam layers (e.g., 4 and 6 cm) increased peak impact stress when the rockfall had high impact energy. Placing geofoam at the bottom of the cushion to replace one third of the sand cushion thickness can enhance the impact resistance of the cushion layer. Under low impact energy, expandable polyethylene (EPE) foam resulted in lower impact force on the rockfall, reduced impact stress within the sand cushion, and diminished vibration of the gallery slab compared with polystyrene (EPS) foam with a constant thickness. However, EPS foam is suitable for use in sand cushions of rockfall galleries subjected to high-energy rock impacts. Moreover, EPE foam exhibits superior resilience, resulting in less damage compared to EPS foam.

Keywords: geological hazard; infrastructure sustainability; sand cushion; geofoam; impact responses (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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