Dynamic Performance of Guardrail System with Various Post Shapes Based on 3-D Soil Material Model

PURPOSES : This paper evaluates, using LS/DYNA-3D software, the vehicle impact performance of flexible barriers made of steel W-Beam supported by four different types of post configurations. These types include circular post, H-shape post, C-shape post, and square post. METHODS : The post-soil interaction has been investigated according to different impact angles. For this purpose, energy absorption, maximum displacements of post and rail, and occupant risk index of THIV have been compared each other. The three dimensional soil material model, instead of the conventional spring model based on Winkler and p-y curve, has been used to increase the correctness of computational model. RESULTS : It is noted the crash energy absorption has been increased with respect to the increase of impact angle. CONCLUSIONS : In particular, a post with open section(H-shape, C-shape) shows the greater crash energy absorption capability as compared with a post with closed section under the same level of impact conditions.