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.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Michie

J. D.

, and Bronstad

M. E.

. Guardrail Performance: End Treatments. Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Tex., 1969.

Nordlin

E. F.

, Field

R. N.

, and Folsom

J. J.

. Dynamic Tests of Short Sections of Corrugated Metal Beam Guardrail. In Highway Research Record 259, HRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1969.

Buth

C. E.

, and Hirsch

T. J.

. Improved End Treatment for Metal Beam Guardrail. Research Report 189-1. Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, 1977.

Hirsch

T. J.

, Dolf

T. J.

, and Arnold

. Maryland Turned-Down Guardrail Terminal. Report FHWA-RD-83-02. Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, 1982.

Hinch

J. A.

, Owings

R. P.

, and Manhard

G. A.

. Safety Modifications of Turned-Down Guardrail Terminals. Report FHWA-RD-84-035. ENSCO, Inc., Springfield, Va., 1984.

Faller

R. K.

, Holloway

J. C.

, Rosson

B. T.

, and Pfeifer

B. G.

. Safety Performance Evaluation on the Nebraska Turned-Down Approach Terminal Section. Report TRP-03-32-92. Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, University of Nebraska—Lincoln, 1992.

Michie

J. D.

NCHRP Report 230: Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Appurtenances. TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1981, 42 pp.

Michie

J. D.

, and Bronstad

M. E.

. NCHRP Report 129: Guardrail Crash Test Evaluation: New Concepts and End Designs. HRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1972.

Pigman

J. G.

, and Agent

K. R.

. Performance Evaluation of Breakaway-Cable-Terminal End Treatments. In Transportation Research Record 1198, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1988 pp 1–10.

10.

Kimball

C. E.

Jr. , Bronstad

M. E.

, and Meczkowski

L. C.

. Evaluation of Guardrail Breakaway Cable Terminals. Report FHWA-82-057. Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Tex., 1982.

11.

Bronstad

M. E.

, Mayer

J. B.

Jr. , Hatton

J. H.

Jr. , and Meczkowski

L. C.

. Crash Test Evaluation of Eccentric Loader Guardrail Terminals. In Transportation Research Record 1065, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1986 pp. 62–68.

12.

Meczkowski

L. C.

Evaluation of Improvements to Breakaway Cable Terminals. Report FHWA-RD-91-065. FHWA, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1991.

13.

Sicking

D. L.

, Qureshy

A. B.

, and Ross

H. E.

Jr. Development of a Slotted-Rail Breakaway Cable Terminal. In Transportation Research Record 1233, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1989.

14.

SENTRE (Safety Barrier End Treatment). Certification Report. Energy Absorption Systems, Inc., Chicago, 1983.

15.

Bronstad

M. E.

, Hancock

K. L.

, Meczkowski

L. C.

, and Humble

W. P.

. Crash Test Evaluation of the Vehicle Attenuating Terminal (V-A-T). In Transportation Research Record 1133, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1987.

16.

Sicking

D. L.

, Qureshy

A. B.

, and Ross

H. E.

Jr. Development of Guardrail Extruder Terminal. In Transportation Research Record 1233, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1989.

17.

Pfeifer

B. G.

, and Sicking

D. L.

. Development of a Metal Cutting W-beam Guardrail Terminal. Report TRP-03-43-94. Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, University of Nebraska—Lincoln, 1994.

18.

Ross

H. E.

Jr. , Sicking

D. L.

, Zimmer

R. A.

, and Michie

J. D.

. NCHRP Report 350: Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features. TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1993.