Impact Analysis of a 16t Truck against different Road Safety Restraint Systems

In this work, the Finite Element model of a 16-ton truck suitable for the numerical analysis of the impact with road safety devices is described. The possibility to correctly reproduce the behaviour of both the vehicle and the barrier before the actual testing is greatly helpful in the design of restraint systems and it can avoid failure of tests. Particular attention was paid in modelling features of the truck such as frame, suspensions and tyres, which play a central role in determining the vehicle behaviour during the impact. The truck model complies with the requirements for the homologation of H3-type barriers, in accordance with the European standard CEN EN 1317. Impacts against two different restraint systems were considered: a concrete New Jersey-type barrier and a H3-type steel deformable barrier. The simulations were carried out using LS-Dyna 970 that has shown to be particularly suitable for this kind of analysis. Eventually, results have showed the reliability of this model for the design and analysis of safety barriers.