USING LS-DYNA SIMULATION TO SOLVE A DESIGN PROBLEM: BULLNOSE GUARDRAIL EXAMPLE

A bullnose median barrier was designed and successfully crash tested head-on at 100 km/h with a 2000-kg pickup truck. After a failed pickup truck test, LS-DYNA was used to simulate the failed system, to determine the cause of the failure, and to evaluate a solution to the problem. Subsequent testing substantiated the LS-DYNA predictions. To keep up with the design project deadlines, some features of the simulation model were simplified. For other features, however, great attention to detail was required to make a useful model. Specifically, a considerable amount of effort went into defining the material failure criteria and appropriate mesh density for the guardrail, rolling tires for the truck model, and application of the relatively new cable element in LS-DYNA. The simulation effort is documented to demonstrate how LS-DYNA can be used to solve difficult design problems in roadside safety applications.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.3141/1690-10
• Summary URL:
  • http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=USING+LS-DYNA+SIMULATION+TO+SOLVE+A+DESIGN+PROBLEM%3a+BULLNOSE+GUARDRAIL+EXAMPLE&author=J.+Reid&author=B.+Bielenberg&publication_year=1999
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309071208
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1690, Roadside Safety and Other General Design Issues.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Reid, J D
  • Bielenberg, B W
• Publication Date: 1999

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 95-102
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1690
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cables; Crash tests; Design; Failure; Guardrails; Materials; Median barriers; Pickup trucks; Simulation; Tire forces
• Identifier Terms: LS-DYNA (Computer program)
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Materials; Research; Safety and Human Factors; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00781511
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309071208
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 21 2000 12:00AM