Performance of some basic types of road barriers subjected to the collision of a light vehicle

Abstract

The investigation of the performance of road barriers to the car collision is not very often studied in the literature despite the importance of the topic to the passengers' safety. Indeed, the various road barriers systems are seldom compared in terms of their capabilities in reducing the overall damage in an accident. Here, flexible and rigid road restraint system subjected to a 900 kg car impact is studied in detail via a finite element simulation, with the model being validated against experimental results. The model relies on dynamic material properties for the guardrail, which were measured in Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar. Three severity occupant indexes, ASI, THIV and PHD, are explored and used to infer road barriers behaviour when interacting with a light vehicle. It is also investigated the failure limit of bolted connections and its influence on the guardrail impact result by means of the car trajectory. According to test TB11 from EN 1317 standard, the impact simulation results using a 900 kg car show that the flexible guardrail is safer than any of the analysed concrete barriers.

Numerical Simulation of Vehicle–Lighting Pole Crash Tests: Parametric Study of Factors Influencing Predicted Occupant Safety Levels

“…Previous studies dealing with friction properties and/or their impact on the obtained results are subject to two distinct limitations [ 18 , 23 , 25 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ]. First, the friction data are not consistent, and significantly different values of friction coefficients are assumed despite the simulation of similar problems.…”

“…By contrast, in [ 18 ], contact between the barrier and the vehicle was simulated using μ s = 0.42 and μ d = 0.10. Frictionless contact between the vehicle and guardrail was defined in [ 52 ], whereas μ s = 1.0 and μ d = 0.2 were chosen in [ 51 ] to model contact between the vehicle and barrier as well as between the vehicle and asphalt pavement. Furthermore, in the LS-Dyna manual, typical values of friction for hard steel vs. hard steel and mild steel vs. mild steel are given as μ s = 0.78 and μ d = 0.08 (greasy), 0.42 (dry) and μ s = 0.74 and μ d = 0.10 (greasy) and 0.57 (dry), respectively.…”

Analysis of Vehicle Collision on an Assembled Anti-Collision Guardrail

“…R.R. Neves studied the ability of various road barrier systems to reduce the overall damage in an accident [ 6 ]. The impact performance of a W-beam guardrail installed at various flare rates was studied by J.D.…”

Analysis of the Impact of Road Safety Barriers on Reducing the Risk of Dangerous Road Accidents and Their Consequences

“…Znormalizowana intruzja pojazdu (V IN ) to maksymalna boczna odległość dowolnej części samochodu zwykle ciężarowego HGV (Heavy goods vehicle) lub autobusu od dowolnej nieodkształconej części bariery ochronnej od strony ruchu. Poziom intensywności zderzenia jest to parametr odzwierciedlający oddziaływanie zderzenia na osoby znajdujące się w pojeździe (określany jako; A, B lub C) oceniany wskaźnikami ASI, THIV i PHD [28]. Wskaźnik intensywności przyspieszenia [5] -skrócona skala obrażeń ASI (Abbreviated Injury Scale) jest wielkością bezwymiarową obliczaną zgodnie z normami PN-EN 1317.…”

“…Samochód osobowy, o masie 900 kg, w teście zderzenia TB11 z metalową barierą jest o wiele bezpieczniejszy dla pasażerów niż w przypadku zderzenia z analizowanymi barierami betonowymi [28]. Trzy wskaźniki istotności, ASI, THIV i PHD, są badane i wykorzystywane do wnioskowania o zachowaniu barier drogowych podczas interakcji z tym lekkim samochodem.. Wartość skali ASI jest wysoka po najechaniu na barierę betonową, limity teoretycznego przyspieszenia głowy pasażera PHD zostały znacznie przekroczone, co wskazuje na możliwe śmiertelne obrażenia w takim scenariuszu uderzenia.…”