Experimental study on physical model of waste tennis ball-sand composite shed cushion under rockfall impact

• Given the limited dissipating effect and high construction costs of traditional sand cushion in shed, this paper proposes to partially replace the sand with waste tennis balls to solve the problem of poor impact resistance of sand cushion. Tests of the impact of rockfall on the waste tennis ball-sand composite cushion were carried out exploring the dissipation effect controlled for the following: height of the rockfall, average gas content of the tennis balls, distribution density, whether the tennis ball gaps were filled with sand, and prevalence and position of tennis balls. According to the results, when a steel plate is added above the composite cushion to isolate the river sand and the tennis balls, the peak of reaction force and impact force decreased by 62% and 72%, respectively, and the dissipating effect of the composite cushion is significantly improved. More specifically, the energy dissipation of tennis cushion outperforms the traditional one with an increase of falling height, and the peak value of reaction force and impact force decrease by up to 23% and 14%, respectively. Moreover, under the same impact energy, the dissipating effect of the tennis ball-sand composite cushion gradually increases with the reduction of the gas content of the tennis ball and the distance between the tennis balls; 25% gas content and 5 cm distance have the best energy dissipation effect. The research results can provide new solutions for the structural design of cushion and the reuse of used tennis balls. © 2022, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Energiteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Energy Engineering (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Energy dissipation; Impact force; Physical model test; Reaction force; Shed cushion; Waste tennis balls

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