WATER-PLASTIC CRASH ATTENUATION SYSTEM: TEST PERFORMANCE AND MODEL PREDICTION

THE RESULTS OF A MODEL PERFORMANCE STUDY ON THE HI-DRO CUSHION CELL BARRIER (WATER-PLASTIC IMPACT CUSHION) WAS PRESENTED. A DIGITAL COMPUTER MODEL WAS CONSTRUCTED TO REPRESENT THE DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF THE CUSHION SYSTEM. THE MODEL WAS VERIFIED BY COMPARING WITH ACTUAL FULL-SCALE CRASH TESTS. THE VERIFIED MODEL WAS THEN EXERCISED TO PROVIDE PREDICTION OF RESPONSE TO EXTREMES OF VEHICLE MASS AND SPEED. THE SIMULATED PERFORMANCE OF THE BARRIER IS PRESENTED AND COMPARED WITH THE SQUARE-WAVE OF "CONSTANT-FORCE" CUSHION. PREDICTIONS SHOW THAT THE WATER-PLASTIC UNIT PROVIDES GOOD PERFORMANCE ACROSS THE SPECTRUM OF IMPACTING VEHICLE MOMENTA, AND THAT IT PROVIDES A RESPONSE THAT TAKES ADVANTAGE OF ALMOST ALL OF THE AVAILABLE STOPPING DISTANCE FOR IMPACTS BETWEEN 30 AND 70 MPH, EMPLOYING VEHICLES WEIGHING FROM 2,000 TO 6,000 POUNDS. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1971/343/343-007.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by Committee on Traffic Safety Barriers and Sign, Signal and Lighting Supports and presented at the 50th Annual Meeting. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Warner, Charles Y
  • Free, Joseph C
• Conference:
  • 50th Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1971-1-18 to 1971-1-22
• Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 83-92
• Monograph Title: Design of traffic safety barriers
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 343
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Barriers (Roads); Crash tests; Crashes; Cushioning materials; Dynamic loads; Forecasting; Impacts; Information processing; Mathematical models; Performance; Stopping distances; Testing; Vehicles
• Uncontrolled Terms: Attenuation; Barriers; Dynamic response
• Old TRIS Terms: Cushioning; Hi-dro cushion cell
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Research; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00203551
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jul 25 1971 12:00AM