Crashworthiness of Traffic Light Steel Poles in Vehicle Collisions

Abstract

Vehicle crashworthiness focuses on the capability of a vehicle to protect its occupants in a collision. The Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code [2] does not provide design criteria for vehicle occupant safety except by field testing. The test-guided product development process is very costly and time-consuming. As an alternative, computer simulation tools are increasingly being used. The aim of this research is to contribute to the efficient design of traffic light poles by developing an experimentally calibrated, computer-based, finite-element model using LSDYNA [54], capable of predicting accurately their response when subjected to vehicle impact. The case of steel pole embedded directly in soil was proved to be strong enough to offer protection under service loading and vehicle impact. Side impact crashed proved to be more severe for the vehicle occupant as a result of the weak structural performance of the side doors of the vehicle. Based on this an innovative pole supported on a hard rubber base is introduced to improve crashworthiness.