VALIDATED CRASH SIMULATION OF THE MOST COMMON GUARDRAIL SYSTEM IN THE USA

Ala Tabiei Director CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN DYNA3D ANALYSIS Department of Aerospace Eng. & Eng. Mechanics University of Cincinnati The subject of this investigation is the development of an accurate simulation of a truck impacting a strong-post w-beam guardrail system, the most common system in the USA. Detailed methods for system simulation are proposed and three major issues, which involve the use of springs to simulate component crashworthiness behavior, are investigated. Rail to blockout bolt connection, soil-post-dynamic interaction, and effect of ends of guardrail are modeled and simulated. Soil-post interaction is modeled using both Lagrangian and Eulerian meshes and the results using the two methods are presented. Both qualitative and quantitative validation of the crash simulation is presented and discussed. The present paper provides a roadmap for simulation of highway safety structures.