AN ANALYTICAL METHOD OF PUNCTURE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF RING NETS BASED ON THE LOAD PATH EQUIVALENCE

An analytical method of steel ring net panel was proposed based on the load path equivalence to analyze the quasi-static puncturing mechanical behavior of the interception structure of flexible protective system against rockfall disasters. The quasi-static punching tests of 24 steel wire ring net panels of different numbers of windings were carried out, and the bearing capacity and deformation were obtained. According to the test results, it is found that the deformation and bearing capacity of specimens corresponding to the critical state was mainly affected by the ring chains on some specific force transferring paths. Therefore, an analytical model of the net panel can be established by substituting some straight fibers for the steel rings net in load transferring path based on load path equivalence. The formulas to calculate the maximum out-of-plane force and deflection of ring net panels has been derived. Python tools were used to realize the analytical method. By comparing with test results, the reliability of the proposed model was verified. In addition, this method is able to describe the weak zone of the steel wire ring net panel and reflect the dominant effect of ring chains on the failure of the net panel.