Development of Metal-Cutting Guardrail Terminal
Abstract
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.
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References
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Article first published: January 1996
Issue published: January 1996
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This article was published in Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board.
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