Design of portable rumble strips.

Details

• Creators:
  Meyer, Eric ; Hale, Rick ; Taghavi, Ray ; Olafsen, Jeff ; Mathur, Gaurav
• Corporate Contributors:
  Smart Work Zone Deployment Initiative
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Rumble strips
  • Portable equipment
  • Portable rumble strips
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  Smart Work Zone Deployment Initiative
• Abstract:
  "In 2003, the states involved in the Midwest Smart Work Zone Deployment Initiative identified ; portable rumble strips (i.e., rumble strips that require no adhesive or fasteners, making them ; applicable for very short term work zones) as a high priority and solicited vendors for products to ; be evaluated by the study. Recognizing that no existing product strictly met the requirements ; cited in the solicitation, this research was proposed to develop a design for such a device based ; on aerodynamic and static exploration. The work began with wind tunnel and computational ; fluid dynamics (CDF) analyses to identify and estimate the critical forces acting on the roadway ; in the wake of a tractor-trailer. Vehicle simulation packages were used to examine the horizontal ; (i.e., sliding) force applied to the device by vehicle tires. Prototypes were developed and tested ; using a sound meter to monitor the sound levels inside the vehicle and both accelerometers ; mounted to a prototype strip and a high-speed video camera to monitor the interaction between ; the tires and the strips and to record the strip’s response to the impact during traversal. ; Based on the analyses conducted in this work, a strip can be constructed that will resist the lifting ; forces in a truck wake, will not slide down the pavement, and will resist tipping even during ; heavy braking. Some bounce is inevitable. A segmented design was adopted to help minimize ; the effects of bounce, and a prototype was fabricated and tested to examine the performance. ; In order for the strip to resist the lifting forces and the tipping forces, it must be fabricated from ; solid steel (or something with an equal or greater specific gravity), and needs to be at least 1” ; high in order to avoid requiring excessive widths. A 1.25” height is recommended, yielding a ; recommended breadth of 4 to 6 inches. A 4” breadth prototype and a 6” breadth prototype were ; fabricated and tested with a loaded tractor trailer at 60 mph. Significant bounce was observed, ; but only in those elements struck by the tires. The adjacent elements did not move, resulting in ; no net translation of the strip as a whole. No tipping, sliding, or lifting due to negative pressures ; in the truck wake were observed. ; Based on these results, the design developed in this study is a feasible solution for the need for portable rumble strips."
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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/23505/dot_23505_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.42 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3a14246f3642c85af3b84c8b1f7d77adfdcbfae386b5b901dd783ade3053908c08b31be2996a1740f5a2fec040fc9240e40a9c2273047fc58c3dd306667d7e1b