En zone de montagne, les avalanches de neige menacent les personnes et également les structures de génie civil. Ce travail de thèse se focalise sur une structure de protection en BA (Béton Armé) de type mur en L. L'objectif est de caler et valider un modèle EF (Elément Fini) 2D afin d'étudier le comportement de tels ouvrages sous l'effet de champs de pression induits par des avalanches de neige dense et d'évaluer leur vulnérabilité face à cet aléa naturel. Quatre lois de comportement décrivant la rhéologie du béton ont été testées en vue de reproduire le plus précisément possible la ruine du mur en BA. Un modèle physique de la structure à échelle 1/6 a permis, via un test pushover, d'obtenir des données expérimentales utiles pour le calage des modèles EF proposés. Seulement deux des lois de comportement ont permis de converger vers un mode de ruine pertinent et en accord avec les observations expérimentales. Le modèle EF une fois calé a ensuite été utilisé afin d'investiguer la réponse mécanique de l'ouvrage sous sollicitation avalancheuse. En fonction de l'impulsion du signal de chargement, trois régimes peuvent être obtenus (quasi-statique, dynamique et impulsionnel). Dans le cas d'une avalanche de neige dense, les résultats montrent que la réponse mécanique de la structure en question peut être considérée comme quasi-statique. Toutefois, les signaux avalancheux dépendant de nombreux facteurs (type d'avalanche, densité, température, etc.), différents types de réponses peuvent potentiellement se développer. Pour finir, la vulnérabilité et la fiabilité du mur en BA ont été étudiées afin de préciser l'influence d'une part de la géométrie et d'autre part des caractéristiques des matériaux sur la capacité de protection qu'offre ce type d'ouvrage. In fine, ces résultats pourront être utilisés dans un cadre de gestion intégrée du risque. / Snow avalanches threaten people and also different types of civil engineering structures in mountainous areas. This PhD thesis focuses on a protective RC (Reinforced Concrete) structure consisting of an L-shaped wall. The objective of this study is to calibrate and validate a 2D FE (Finite Element) model in order to explore the mechanical behavior of such RC structures loaded by snow avalanche pressure fields and to assess their vulnerability when exposed to this kind of natural hazard. Four constitutive laws describing the concrete rheology were tested to describe the collapse of the RC wall. A physical 1/6-scale model permitted obtaining, via a pushover test, useful experimental data for the calibration of the proposed FE models. Two concrete models allowed converging to a relevant collapse of the structure in agreement with the experimental observations. Then, the calibrated FE model was used to investigate the mechanical response of the wall under avalanche loading. According to the impulse of the loading signal, three regimes can occur (quasi-static, dynamic or impulsive). In the case of dense-snow avalanches, the results show that the mechanical response of this structure can be described as quasi-static. However, avalanche signals depend on many factors (type of avalanche, density, temperature, etc.) and several types of responses can potentially develop. Finally, the vulnerability and the reliability of the RC wall were studied to show the influence of the geometry and the material properties on the capacity of the protective structure. In fine, these results will be used in an integrated risk framework in order to help decision makers.

Electromagnetic effects of lightning currents during a direct hit to tall communication towers, other instrumented towers and chimneys can be hazardous to associated cables, as well as, electrical and electronics systems. The standard practice in telecommunication and other related fields is to bond the cable sheath to the tower and ground connection is made before it enters the base station. However, in some specific cases when power, signal and data logging cables are to be supported on the same tower, isolation of power cables is demanded. In a totally different situation, attempts are also made to have a dedicated isolated down conductor. A critical review of the situation demanded a more quantitative answer to the following questions: (i) whether it is possible to electrically isolate a dedicated down conductor, (ii) is it possible to electrically isolate the cables and their terminal equipment both mounted on towers serving as down conductor and if so, what will be the nature of current induced in the cables and (iii) as per the standard practice, if the cable sheaths are connected to the tower/structure, what will be the nature of the current shared by them. Addressing these important issues formed the scope of the present work. For the tall structures considered in this work, for the critical time periods, wave nature of the current dominates. This called for electromagnetic modeling covering Transverse Magnetic (TM) mode of the wave propagation. Owing to the complex geometrical features involved with the problem, both experiments on electromagnetically scaled laboratory models, as well as, theoretical simulation is attempted. An electromagnetically scaled laboratory model is employed for the time domain experimental investigation. This approach, which has been validated earlier, is further scrutinized to ensure its adequacy. In order to achieve generality and noting the fact that the associated parameters are rather difficult to be varied in the experimentation, theoretical investigation is also employed. For this, both NEC-2, as well as, an in-house thin wire time domain code developed for this work is employed. NEC-2 could handle multi-wire multi-radius junctions, while in-house time domain code could handle proximity and non-cylindrical shapes encountered with tower lattice elements. The investigation of induction to isolated cables on simple down conductors and towers is considered first. The induced current is shown to be bipolar oscillatory with the period of oscillation governed by the length of the cable. It is shown that the level of induction for good earth termination is below 5 – 10 % while that with moderate inductance in the earth termination can enhance the induction to higher levels. The level of induction is shown to be not critically dependent on the length of the cable, gap between cable and down conductor/tower. When multiple cables are mounted, they seem to influence each other and individually carry currents of lower amplitude. Also, the effect of shape and proximity of the tower lattice elements on induction is investigated. If the cable is housed inside a metallic tray, the amplitude of induced current is shown to be quite small. Subsequently, the evaluation of electrical stress between the isolated down conductor on tower and simplified representation of the structure is considered. A suitable definition of the electric stress for the wave regime is evolved and then it is shown that, at present, the voltage difference defined by the path integral of electric field across shortest path between the two entities is the best indicator for the stress. The electrical stress in the case of isolated down conductor on tower, as well as, down conductor with isolated cable is shown to reach very dangerous levels. On the other hand, the stress on the isolated cables on towers also serving as down conductors is shown to be relatively moderate. Interestingly, it is shown that the electrical stress and the voltage difference is dependent on the gap and for the critical time period, can be much lower than that calculated as a product of equivalent tower surge impedance and the stroke current, even before the arrival of ground end reflections. Finally, the current shared by cables connected to the down conductor is investigated. For the case of simple cylindrical down conductor with cable connected to it at the top, it is shown that the amount of current shared by the cable is not dependent on its length and the relative radii (cross section) have only a weak influence. For the case with down conductor formed by L and + angles, it is shown that the placement of cable at their interior corner can reduce the initial current shared by the cable. In order to model best possible situation with towers, experiments are conducted with cable inside an aluminum pipe. Even in this case, cable current builds up with successive reflections to become comparable with the current through the pipe itself. Subsequent investigation with 1:40 and 1:20 tower models lead to several interesting observations. Cables running along leg/face of the tower whether placed inside or outside the tower, always shares good amount of current. Further, frequent bonding of the sheath to the tower increases the current shared by the cable. Cable when housed in a metallic tray shares less than 50% of the current shared without the tray. Even though a complete quantification is not to be achieved in this work, it has made a good beginning with some significant contribution towards lightning protection issues pertaining to tall towers and structures.