TTI Research Supervisor: Akram Abu-Odeh Texas A&M Transportation Institute
Pooled Fund Technical Representative: Christopher Lindsey Transportation Engineer Design Division 125 East 11th Street, Austin, TX 78701-2483 (512) 416-2750 [email protected]
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research was to investigate the performance of a various short-radius guardrail system for placement on an intersection of a primary road subjected to MASH TL 3 conditions and a secondary road subjected to MASH TL 2 conditions. The investigation is conducted via simulation and the design was developed for Texas short radius systems by combining the primary road section of the earlier MASH TL 3 design with the secondary road section of the earlier MASH TL 2 design. The final design has seven 55-gallon drums placed behind certain rail elements and a bearing pipe placed two feet behind the first W-beam rail on the secondary road. The design was evaluated using detailed finite element simulations of impact at the nose under MASH TL 3-32 and MASH 3-33 conditions. The design has a promising performance based on the simulation cases conducted. The research team recommends further evaluation via physical crash testing.
