Abstract
W-beam guardrails are the most widely used road safety barriers worldwide. They are used for protecting vehicle occupants on dangerous areas of roadways. All road safety barriers used on European highways are designed according to the European standard EN 1317. Conventionally, such road safety barriers have the following dimensions: a 750-mm height from the top of the W-beam to the ground and a 1.33-, 2-, or 4-m post spacing. This study applied the finite element code LS-DYNA for evaluating the safety performance of an AG04-2.0 A-type barrier, which was designed using three post spacings and various rail heights, when impacted by a 900-kg small passenger car. Eight crash test simulations were conducted for evaluating the crashworthiness of the AG04-2.0 barrier according to the European Standard EN 1317. A baseline model was developed and validated against the existing crash test models. The results showed that the various post spacings (1.33, 2, and 4 m) and rail heights (600, 650, 700, 750 and 800 mm) enabled the AG04-2.0 barrier to withstand the impact of the 900-kg car, satisfying the EN 1317 criteria (i.e. TB11 test). The 2000-mm post spacing and 700-mm rail height were considered the optimal dimensions for AG04-2.0 road safety barriers.
Highlights
Providing forgiving roadside environments reduces the risk of vehicles veering off safe, traveled roads
Eight crash test simulations were conducted for evaluating the crashworthiness of the AG04-2.0 barrier according to the European Standard EN 1317
The results showed that the various post spacings (1.33, 2, and 4 m) and rail heights (600, 650, 700, 750 and 800 mm) enabled the AG04-2.0 barrier to withstand the impact of the 900-kg car, satisfying the EN 1317 criteria (i.e. TB11 test)
Summary
Providing forgiving roadside environments reduces the risk of vehicles veering off safe, traveled roads. Hazards such as trees, utility poles, fixed objects, and water are typically located adjacent to roadways and relocating them is often impractical. Vehicles veering off roadways might encounter these hazard elements. Road safety barriers are typically used to safely contain and redirect errant vehicles from nearby hazards. W-beam guardrails are the most widely used safety barrier systems for protecting vehicles from hazards located adjacent to traveled roads. Such systems are used for providing protection
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