Schellenberg, Kristian, Dr.

Research

I am involved in the following research project:

Impact Load Capacity of Reinforced Concrete Slabs due to Rockfall
(Dynamische Tragfähigkeit von Stahlbetonplatten bei Steinschlag)

Galleries are common measures to protect roads and railways from rockfall. Rockfall is one of the most relevant natural hazards in the mountainous regions of Switzerland. The recent Swiss design concept is based on the application of a static equivalent force. This approach is simple in use for the engineers in practice however; the dynamic behavior of the structure is not satisfyingly taken into consideration.
The aim of this research is to provide a better understanding of the dynamic response of rockfall protection galleries. This will improve the prediction accuracy of their impact load capacity. An analytical model based on a system of multiple degrees of freedom and different simplifications is shown. The model enables predicting shear failure as well as bending failure due to impact.
In order to verify and calibrate the model various tests from small to large-scale were performed. The small-scale tests were used to evaluate the adequate test setup for laboratory research. Although the falling weight test setup is the most complex one, it proofed to be the most appropriate. In mid-scale tests different cushion layers were evaluated and in particular the performance of the measurement equipment. Large-scale tests in a scale 1:2 provided the required data to calibrate the analytical model as well as future numerical models. Three series of slabs with different thicknesses with and without shear reinforcement were subjected to increasing impact loads until failure. In the last series punching test were performed with different boundary conditions and a smaller loading area.

My publications

• Schellenberg, K., Schubert, M., Vogel, T. (2011).
  A Performance Based Design Concept for Rockfall Protection Galleries,
  9th International Conference on Shock & Impact Loads on Structures; November 16-18, 2011, pp. 577-587.
• Volkwein, A., Labiouse, V., Schellenberg, K. (2011).
  Summary on the NHESS Special Issue "Rockfall protection - from hazard identification to mitigation measures",
  Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 11, 2727-2728, 2011.
• Volkwein, A., Schellenberg, K., Labiouse, V., Agliardi, F., Berger, F., Bourrier, F., Dorren, L. K. A., Gerber, W., Jaboyedoff, M. (2011).
  Rockfall characterization and structural protection - a review,
  Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 11, 2617-2651, 2011.
• Schellenberg, K., Kishi, N., Konno, H. (2011).
  Analytical Model for Rockfall Protection Galleries -A Blind Prediction of Test Results and Conclusion,
  Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol. 82 (2011) pp 722-727
• Ghadimi-Kashragi, S., Schellenberg, K., Vogel, T. (2009).
  Prediction of Shear Failure of Rockfall Protection Galleries,
  Proceedings of Performance, Protection & Strengthening of Structures under Extreme Loadings (Protect2009), August 19-21, Hayama, Japan.
• Schellenberg, K., Vogel, T. (2009).
  A Dynamic Design Method for Rockfall Protection Galleries,
  Structural Engineering International, v. 19, pp. 321-326.
• Schellenberg, K., (2009).
  On the design of rockfall protection galleries - An analytical approach for a performance based design,
  SVH Verlag, 196 pp.
• Shikawa, H., Kishi, N., Mikami, H., Schellenberg, K. (2008).
  Effects of sand cushion on impact response behavior of four-side supported RC slabs (in Japanese),
  Proceedings of JCI'08 (Annual Convention of Japan Concrete Institute), Fukuoka, July 07-09, 2008, Japan.
• Volkwein, A., Labiouse, V., Schellenberg, K. (Editors) (2008).
  Proceedings of Interdisciplinary workshop on rockfall protection,
  June 23-25, 2008, Morschach., 124 pp.
• Schellenberg, K., Vogel, T. (2008).
  A dynamic design method for rock fall protection galleries,
  Interdisciplinary Workshop on Rockfall Protection; June 23-25, 2008, pp. 96-98.
• Schellenberg, K., Volkwein, A., Denk, M., Vogel, T. (2008).
  Falling weight tests on rock fall galleries with cushion layers,
  Interdisciplinary Workshop on Rockfall Protection; June 23-25, pp. 99-101.
• Schellenberg, K., Ghadimi Khasraghy, S., Vogel, T. (2008).
  Impact behavior of reinforced concrete slabs subjected to rock fall loading,
  Structures Under Shock and Impact X: Proceedings of Tenth International Conference on Structures Under Shock and Impact (SUSI 2008), Algarve, Portugal, May 2008, pp 25-34, ED N. Jones et al, WIT Press Publications, Southampton, UK.
• Kishi, N., Mikami, H., Okada, S., Yoshida, H., Schellenberg, K. (2008).
  Effects of sand cushion on impact behavior of RC slabs under falling-weight impact test (in Japanese) ,
  Proceedings of annual conference Hokkaido Chapter, JSCE, Vol. 64, Paper No. A-62, January 30-31, 2008, 4 pp.
• Vogel, T., Schellenberg, K. (2007).
  Forschungsarbeiten an Steinschlaggalerien,
  baublatt, Ausgabe 49/2007, 7. Dezember 2007, pp. 14-18.
• Schellenberg, K., Volkwein, A., Roth, A., Vogel, T. (2007).
  Large-scale impact tests on rock fall galleries,
  Proceedings of 7th Int. Conference on Shock & Impact Loads on Structures, 17-19 October 2007, Beijing, China, pp. 497-504.
• Schellenberg, K., Vogel, T. (2007).
  Tests and analytical model of rockfall impacts on galleries,
  Proceedings of Protect2007, Structures under Extreme Loading, August 20-22, Whistler, p. 27 and CDROM file SWO04_Schellenberg.pdf, pp. 1-10.
• Schellenberg, K., Volkwein, A., Roth, A., Vogel, T. (2006).
  Rockfall – Falling weight tests on galleries with special cushion layers,
  Proceedings, 3rd International Conference on Protection of Structures Against Hazards, September 28–29, Venice, pp. 251-258.
• Schellenberg, K., Vogel, T. (2006)
  Different setups for dynamic tests with concrete slabs,
  Poster, EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 02-07 April 2006.
• Schellenberg, K. (2006).
  Impact load tests on reinforced concrete slabs,
  Proceedings, 6th International PhD Symposium in Civil Engineering 2006, Zurich, August 23-26, pp. 130/131 and CD-ROM file 230_Schellenberg.pdf, pp. 1-8.
• Schellenberg, K., Vogel, T., Fu, C.C., Wang, S. (2005).
  Comparison of European and U.S. Practices Concerning Creep and Shrinkage,
  Proceedings fib Symposium 'Structural Concrete and Time', La Plata, September 28-30, 2005, pp. 445-452.
• Schellenberg, K., Vogel, T. (2005).
  Swiss Rockfall Galleries - Impact Load,
  Proceedings IABSE Symposium Lisbon 2005, 'Structures and Extreme Events', IABSE Zurich, 2005, pp. 302/303 and CD-ROM file LIS099.PDF, pp. 1-8.

Teaching activities

Other activities

• Engineer at Gruner + Wepf AG