DEVELOPMENT OF METAL-CUTTING GUARDRAIL TERMINAL

A crashworthy terminal for strong-post W-beam guardrail systems was developed at the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. The terminal incorporates an impact head that is placed over the end of a tangent section of W-beam rail. The impact head is designed to be pushed down the rail and to dissipate impact energy by cutting the W-beam along the peaks and valley to produce four essentially flat strips of steel. These flat strips are then deflected out of the path of the vehicle, striking the end of the rail. Static and dynamic component tests as well as full-scale developmental crash tests conducted during the development of this system are described. Finally, the results of the three full-scale compliance crash tests are presented and discussed. The metal-cutting guardrail terminal was shown to meet NCHRP Report 230 safety performance standards.

• Record URL:
  • https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0361198196152800101
• Record URL:
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=DEVELOPMENT+OF+METAL-CUTTING+GUARDRAIL+TERMINAL&author=B.+Pfeifer&author=D.+Sicking&publication_year=1996
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309062241
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1528, Current Research on Roadside Safety Features.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Pfeifer, B G
  • Sicking, D L
• Publication Date: 1996

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 1-10
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1528
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Acceptance tests; Crash tests; Crashes; Design; Dissipation; Dynamic tests; Guardrail terminals; Metal cutting; Quality of work; Safety; Standards; Static tests; Testing
• Identifier Terms: National Cooperative Highway Research Program; NCHRP Report 230
• Uncontrolled Terms: Design features; Safety standards
• Old TRIS Terms: Test results
• Subject Areas: Design; Energy; Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00727311
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309062241
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Oct 18 1996 12:00AM