Replicating the Failure Mechanism of a Real-World Event with the Lattice Discrete Particle Model

On Feb. 4th, 2022, a 9-m-high pre-fabricated concrete segment of the Israeli separation wall collapsed near the town of El Ram, north of Jerusalem. The failure occurred due to excavated soil wrongfully deposited against the back of the wall. The wall segments were not designed to carry lateral earth loading. As a result, they collapsed due to flexural failure. We back-analysed the failure event based on technical data and observations to obtain the wall loading. This analysis suggests that the internal moment at the time of failure was considerably greater than the capacity of the wall according to accepted standards. We then conduct numerical analysis using the Lattice Discrete Particle Model (LDPM), capable of capturing fracturing processes and complex failure mechanisms to replicate the actual collapse mechanism. This analysis accounts for the post-peak behaviour of the reinforced concrete up to the point of the wall's collapse. Identifying the failure in advance was crucial and prevented catastrophic outcomes by allowing time to react. However, the reinforced concrete residual state is far from being fully understood. While engineers cannot rely on structural elements’ residual state during design, a better understanding of this state is crucial for proper response and mitigation measures following the onset of failure.