<p>The construction of systems to prevent falling rocks implemented in Japan commonly uses rockfall protection nets. We assumed that equipping rockfall protection nets with newly-developed energy absorbers would improve the ability of the nets to absorb energy. This research involved conducting tests to confirm the performance of the energy absorbers, as well as full-scale tests of the rockfall protection nets, and evaluating rockfall protection nets equipped with energy absorbers. The results demonstrated that rockfall protection nets equipped with energy absorbers are able to absorb an increased amount of energy, and reduce the force acting on the wire cables and anchors connected to the energy absorbers. In other words, installing energy absorbers on rockfall protection nets provides several advantages.</p>
<p>
Although pocket-type rockfall protective nets are more economical and easier to install, the amount of rockfall energy they can absorb and the locations where they can be used are limited. Because of this, in recent years, a new rockfall protective net, which has built-in shock absorbers to prevent anchor rods from breaking and to absorb considerable rockfall energy due to their function, has been designed. This study was conducted to determine the effective range of implementation for a new pocket-type rockfall protective net, and to confirm the net's reaction and energy absorption capacity upon the introduction of rotational energy approximating the actual behavior of a rockfall.</p>
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.