ADVANCED MATERIAL CONCEPTS FOR GUARDRAIL END TREATMENTS

GUARDRAIL TERMINALS ARE SOME OF THE MORE TROUBLESOME AND POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS ROADSIDE APPURTENANCES. RECENTLY DEVELOPED TERMINAL CONCEPTS WHICH HAVE PASSED CURRENT CRASH TEST CRITERIA TEND TO BE EXPENSIVE AND MAY REQUIRE EXCESSIVE LENGTH OF NEED, FLARE-OUT SPACE AND ADDITIONAL FILL AND GRADING. THIS PHASE I SBIR PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MORE EFFICIENT ENERGY ABSORBING TERMINAL CONCEPTS UTILIZING ADVANCED HONEYCOMB AND THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE MATERIALS. THESE MATERIALS OFFER SIGNIFICANT PERFORMANCE ADVANTAGES IN TERMS OF ENERGY ABSORPTION AND FABRICATION ECONOMY, AS WELL AS EASE OF INSTALLATION. ADD-ON DEVICES FOR EXISTING TERMINALS AS WELL AS NEW TERMINAL CONCEPTS WILL BE INVESTIGATED. ENERGY ABSORBING CONCEPTS TO BE INVESTIGATED WILL INCLUDE NON-METALLIC TUBE-CORE AND FLEX-CORE HONEYCOMB AS WELL AS THERMOPLASTIC POLYMER COMPOSITE TUBE GEOMETRIES. THE GOAL OF THE PHASE I RESEARCH WILL BE THE SELECTION OF THREE MOST PROMISING MATERIAL CONCEPTS FOR ENERGY ABSORBING GUARDRAIL APPLICATIONS. DETAILED DESIGN, LABORATORY CHARACTERIZATION AND CRASH TESTING OF THE MOST PROMISING END TREATMENT CONCEPTS WILL BE CONDUCTED IN PHASE II.