A New Rockfall Simulation Tool based on Unity 3D

Objectives: Rockfall occur frequently in the mountainous areas of Southwest China, causing huge casualties and property losses every year. A rapid simulation method of the collapse process is urgently needed. The commonly used collapse simulation software still has obvious shortcomings, such as low terrain accuracy, no consideration of the structural characteristics of rock mass, as well as block collision and fragmentation. The logic operation based on CPU still limits the calculation speed. In this study, a new method for rapid simulation of the three-dimensional motion process of collapse is proposed. Methods: The Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aerial photography modelling combined with field investigation is used to obtain the slope surface model and determine the characteristic parameters of rockfall. The simulation software of a large-scale collapse movement process is developed by Unity 3D platform which integrates PhysX physics engine and CPU-GPU parallel computing capability. Results: The software can simulate the whole process of collapse, impact, fragmentation, and deposition. It can output the three-dimensional trajectory, velocity, energy and jumping height, which can be used for the engineering design. Finally, Xiejiayan rockfall in Nayong, Guizhou Province has been selected as an application case, to verify the feasibility and suitability in practice.