Modeling and Simulation of Bogie Impacts on Concrete Bridge Rails using LS-DYNA

Bridge rails are constructed to contain and redirect an errant vehicle. They are constructed to withstand the impact severity of such vehicular impact based on the desired containment level. To evaluate the structural integrity of a given bridge rail design, bogie tests were conducted using a 5000 lb bogie as an impactor. In this paper, LS-DYNA was used to model the concrete barrier to simulate the bogie impact. Three material models in LS-DYNA (type 72R3, 84 and 159) were used to simulate the impact event. The rebars to concrete coupling was modeling via the *CONSTRAINED_LAGRANGE_IN_SOLID feature in LS-DYNA. Time history and deformation profile comparisons between tests and LS-DYNA simulations are presented in this paper. Figure 1 below shows a damage profile for the barrier as tested and as simulated in LS-DYNA.