Analysis of Displacement of a Concrete Barrier on Impact of a Vehicle. Theoretical Model and Experimental Validation

A vehicle hitting a traffic barrier creates a major threat to traffic safety as a result of displacement of components of the barrier by the forces transferred from the vehicle. We built a theoretical model of the dynamics of such processes and behaviour of concrete barriers set on various types of surfaces. We calculated the displacement as a function of vehicle impact energy and barrier base. We completed analytical approximation for our calculations and we referred the theoretical results to experimental test results. This validated our model of barrier and vehicle movement dynamics as fully qualified for use in the planning of safer barriers and evaluation of barrier effect on traffic. Basing on our calculations, we determined that a second-order polynomial can be used for describing the lateral displacement of a barrier placed on various types of surfaces for a wide range of impact energies (actually, from 0 to 120 kJ). The courses of the approximating function represent an efficient model for determining the maximum lateral displacement of a concrete barrier on impact of a B or C segment vehicle.