@article{ref1,
title="Effect of joint mechanism on vehicle redirectional capability of water-filled road safety barrier systems",
journal="Accident analysis and prevention",
year="2014",
author="Thiyahuddin, M. I. and Thambiratnam, D. P. and Gu, Y. T.",
volume="71C",
number="",
pages="60-71",
abstract="Portable water-filled barriers (PWFBs) are roadside appurtenances that prevent vehicles from penetrating into temporary construction zones on roadways. PWFBs are required to satisfy the strict regulations for vehicle re-direction in tests. However, many of the current PWFBs fail to re-direct the vehicle at high speeds due to the inability of the joints to provide appropriate stiffness. The joint mechanism hence plays a crucial role in the performance of a PWFB system at high speed impacts. This paper investigates the desired features of the joint mechanism in a PWFB system that can re-direct vehicles at high speeds, while limiting the lateral displacement to acceptable limits. A rectangular &quot;wall&quot; representative of a 30m long barrier system was modeled and a novel method of joining adjacent road barriers was introduced through appropriate pin-joint connections. The impact response of the barrier &quot;wall&quot; and the vehicle was obtained and the results show that a rotational stiffness of 3000kNm/rad at the joints seems to provide the desired features of the PWFB system to re-direct impacting vehicles and restrict the lateral deflection. These research findings will be useful to safety engineers and road barrier designers in developing a new generation of PWFBs for increased road safety.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0001-4575",
doi="10.1016/j.aap.2014.05.010",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2014.05.010"
}