Finite Element Analysis of Roadside Safety Devices (0-1816-S)

Although significant advancements have been made over the past three decades, the roadside safety problem remains a major source of injury, death, and economic loss. One direct means of addressing this problem is through the continued development of improved roadside safety features. In recent years, roadside safety research has focused on computer simulation technology to better understand behavior of roadside safety devices when hit by vehicles. Toward this goal, the Center for Transportation Computational Mechanics was established at the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) under joint funding by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), TTI, and Texas A&M University. The purpose of the center is to contribute to the solution of the roadside safety problem through the use of computer simulation technology by building validated models of selected roadside hardware devices and establishing expertise that can be utilized by TxDOT, other highway agencies, and private industry to address safety problems.