Reliability analysis of concrete barriers under vehicular crashes using augmented RBFs

Abstract

A reliability analysis approach was studied for the assessment of roadside barriers under vehicular crashes. It was achieved using computational mechanics and a simulation-based reliability analysis method. Traditionally, the evaluation of roadside barriers has been conducted based on limited crash tests. With the development of high-performance computer hardware and software, numerical crash simulations can be performed using high-fidelity finite element (FE) methods. Based on the crash simulation results, various barrier systems can be assessed. Due to the high nonlinearity and implicit nature of crash responses, approximate models such as metamodels become useful to replace numerical crash analyses. In this work, augmented radial basis functions (RBFs) were used to generate approximate models of limit state functions, which represented crash responses exceeding certain limit values. With explicit limit state functions, failure probabilities or probabilities of exceedance were calculated using Monte Carlo simulations (MCS). The combination of crash simulations and a metamodeling technique allows an efficient reliability analysis, when expensive numerical analyses are required. A New Jersey concrete barrier example was analyzed and various crash responses and their limits were considered. The probability-based analysis method provides a useful tool to improve transportation safety. It can potentially replace the prescriptive pass/fail approach traditionally employed in barrier evaluation and design.