Soil-Embedded Steel Baffle with Concrete Footing Responding to Collision by a Fallen or Flying Object

Abstract

This article is concerned with the design of steel baffles embedded in soil to contain fallen boulders rolling down a hill slope, with the buried segment of the baffles cast into concrete. Analytical solutions presented in the form of closed-form expressions based on a standardized static model enable optimized design solutions to be found readily. Dynamic testing of baffles has been undertaken to verify the accuracy of the proposed analytical model. Numerical simulations employing the program LS-DYNA have also been undertaken to extend the database of test results to track the trends and to provide further support of the calibrated model. This article presents the finding that the required depth of embedment of the baffle to achieve “long pile” behavior is scale-dependent, contrary to the commonly held notion based on observations from studies that have been undertaken on laterally loaded piles. The proposed analytical model, which is ideally suited to the design of steel baffles, will result in significant cost savings while maintaining acceptable performance.