Waterborne debris impact forces on wall structures: Elastic analytical model integrating the effects of the structural mass

To evaluate the structural safety against waterborne debris impacts, the impact loads are usually computed with analytical models such as those proposed by ASCE/SEI 7–22. These models often assume a massless structure to simplify the analytical formulations, which can be an oversimplifying and inaccurate assumption in cases where the structure is heavier and more flexible than the debris. To address this problem, we aim to define the domain in which the existing models are inaccurate and to propose a new analytical model to accurately compute the debris impact forces through comprehensive finite element simulations and analytical modelling. We defined such a domain in the design space of structure-to-debris mass and stiffness ratios and assessed which are the most accurate analytical models to compute debris impact forces across this space. Our proposed model significantly improves upon the overestimating results of the ASCE/SEI 7–22 model when both stiffness and mass are important in determining the impact forces.