EVALUATION OF 12 M LONG TURNED DOWN GUARDRAIL END TERMINAL USING FULL-SCALE CRASH TESTING AND SIMULATION

Authors

  • ALI OSMAN ATAHAN ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AYAZAGA CAMPUS 34469, ISTANBUL
  • MUHAMMET MUSAB ERDEM ISKENDERUN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 31200, ISKENDERUN

Keywords:

END TERMINAL, TURNED DOWN END, ROADSIDE SAFETY, CRASH TEST, LS-DYNA, IMPACT, SIMULATION.

Abstract

THE BEGINNINGS AND ENDS OF GUARDRAIL DESIGNS HAVE THE FUNCTION OF PROVIDING ADEQUATE ANCHORAGE FOR THE REST OF THE SYSTEM. THEY SHOULD ALSO DEMONSTRATE CRASHWORTHY PERFORMANCE AND SHOULD NOT POSE ANY HAZARD FOR ERRANT VEHICLES. IN EUROPE, THE ENDS OF GUARDRAIL SYSTEMS TRADITIONALLY HAVE INCORPORATED TURNED DOWN END TERMINALS. DUE TO ITS LOW COST, TURKEY ALSO ADOPTED TURNED DOWN GUARDRAIL END TERMINAL, AND THE MAJORITY OF THESE DESIGNS ARE 12 METERS LONG. ACCIDENT STATISTICS CLEARLY DEMONSTRATE THAT THIS PARTICULAR END TERMINAL POSES SAFETY RISKS FOR IMPACTING VEHICLES. HOWEVER, CRASH TESTS PERFORMED ON THE SYSTEM SHOWED THAT IT WORKED SATISFACTORILY FOR CARS IMPACTING AT 80 KPH. IN THIS STUDY, A DETAILED FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED ON A 12 M LONG TURNED DOWN GUARDRAIL END TREATMENT TO FULLY EVALUATE ITS CRASHWORTHINESS. DATA OBTAINED FROM PREVIOUSLY PERFORMED TT 2.1.80 AND TT 4.2.80 CRASH TESTS WERE USED TO VERIFY THE FIDELITY OF FINITE ELEMENT MODELS USED IN THE STUDY. FURTHER SIMULATIONS PERFORMED IN ACCORDANCE WITH EN1317 PART 7 AT 100 KPH DEMONSTRATED UNACCEPTABLE PERFORMANCE FOR THE END TERMINAL. RESULTS OF THE STUDY ARE SUMMARIZED AND RECOMMENDATIONS ARE PRESENTED.

Author Biographies

ALI OSMAN ATAHAN, ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AYAZAGA CAMPUS 34469, ISTANBUL

PROFESSOR ATAHAN WORKED AT TEXAS TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE ON DESIGN, ANALYSIS AND TESTING OF NUMEROUS ROADSIDE SAFETY SYSTEMS. HE HAS A PH.D. FROM TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY. IN HIS SABBATICAL LEAVE, HE SPENT TWO YEARS AT WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE WITH RESEARCH AND TEACHING ROADSIDE SAFETY AND FINITE ELEMENT SIMULATIONS. DR. ATAHAN IS CURRENTLY WORKING AT ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY IN TURKEY WHERE HE CONTINUES HIS RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY ON CRASHWORTHINESS EVALUATION OF ROADSIDE SAFETY SYSTEMS. 

MUHAMMET MUSAB ERDEM, ISKENDERUN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 31200, ISKENDERUN

MR. ERDEM WORKS AS A RESEARCH ASSISTANT AT ISKENDERUN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY. HE IS CURRENTLY PURSUING HIS PH.D. DEGREE.

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Published

2016-10-17

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 16 (2016)

Section

Articles

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