United States Department of Transportation
i
Impact Characteristics of Glass-Reinforced Composite Materials for Use in Roadside Safety Barriers
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1994-01-01
[PDF-1.10 MB]
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Abstract:The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is interested in the development of barriers composed of composite materials. Barriers, as well as other roadside safety appurtenances are structures subjected to dynamic loading by errant vehicles. This investigation focuses on the understanding of the impact behavior of fiber-reinforced conposites when subjected to low-velocity impacts, such as an automobile collision into a fixed roadside object. This study attempts to characterize the relative impact performance of several different fiber architecture types in glass fiber-reinforced composites. This dynamic characterization of materials compared test specimens cut from standard, commercially available glass fiber-reinforced pultruded composite shapes with laboratory-fabricated composites of four different fiber geometries. Composite plates were fabricated by a hand lay-up vacuum bag process and were then cut into impact test specimens approximately 178 mm long by 25 mm wide (7.0 in. long by 1.0 in. wide). These test specimens were used to evaluate the impact characteristics of the various types of materials. This report discusses the drop weight testing procedures, important data analysis parameters, and material fabrication methods used in this study. The results of impact tests on both pultruded and laboratory-fabricated composite samples are presented and compared. Also, design considerations and possibilities for further investigations are recommended.
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Content Notes:Author's M.C.E. Thesis, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
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