Shaking table test for estimating the effects of seismic loading on the mobility of rockfall

Rockfall is one of the most frequent geo-hazards, which often occurs in mountain areas and along land transportation. It often causes serious consequences in terms of lives lost, homes destroyed and infrastructures disrupted because its high energy and significant mobility, although it usually impacts only small areas compared to other geo-hazards. Rockfall could be activated by various triggers, in which earthquake is one important trigger. Estimate the run-out of earthquake-induced rockfall is important for choosing suitable protection measures. A growing body of evidence, including site videos and eyewitness testimonies, suggests that the ground still intensively quake when the process of rockfall. The main purpose of this paper is to clarify whether the seismic loading has any influence on the mobility of rockfall through shaking table test. Thousands of tests are conducted to investigate the effects of the amplitude and the frequency of simple harmonic seismic loading on the horizontal and the lateral displacements of triangular prism, quadrangular prism, pentagonal prism and hexagonal prism. The results show the significant effects of seismic loading on the run-out distance and the lateral displacements of rockfall.