Techno Press
Techno Press

Structural Engineering and Mechanics
  Volume 12, Number 5, November 2001 , pages 541-558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/sem.2001.12.5.541
 


Nonlinear collision analysis of heavy trucks onto steel highway guard fences
Yoshito Itoh, Chunlu Liu and Koichi Usami (Japan)

 
Abstract
    The design specifications of guard fences in Japan were reexamined and the revised
specifications were implemented from April 1999. Because of the huge consumption in time and cost to
test the performances of full-scale guard fences in the field, some assumptions are adopted while
modifying the design specifications, and numerical analyses are necessary to confirm the impact
performance and safety level of new types of steel highway guard fences. In this study, the finite element
models are developed for the heavy trucks and steel highway guard fences to reenact their behaviors, and
the solution approach is carried out using nonlinear dynamic analysis software of structures in three
dimensions (LS-DYNA). The numerical simulation results are compared with the full-scale on-site testing
results to verify the proposed analysis procedure. The collision process is simulated and it is also made
possible to visualize the movement of the truck and the performances of guard fences. In addition, the
energy shift of the truck kinetic energy to the truck and guard fence Internal energy, and the energy
absorption of each guard fence component are studied for the development of a new design methodology
of steel highway guard fences based on the energy absorption capacity.
 
Key Words
    dynamic analysis; energy absorption; finite element method; guard fence; heavy truck; non-linear analysis; vehicle collision impact.
 
Address
Yoshito Itoh and Chunlu Liu, Center for Integrated Research in Science and Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan
Koichi Usami, Department of Civil Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan
 

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