Breakable Spacer Piece for Guard Rail Impact Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional guard rail systems face challenges in preventing vehicle wheel snagging during impacts and managing debris after an incident, as existing spacer pieces do not effectively release the guard rail beam from support posts during collisions.
Innovation Solution
A spacer piece with a breakable portion that ruptures during impact, allowing the guard rail beam to be released from the support post, featuring a narrowed neck with thinner outer walls and apertures to facilitate rupture, and multiple mounting options for secure installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional spacer pieces are used to prevent wheel snagging, then vehicle safety is improved, but debris generation increases during impact
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer piece is divided into an upper portion and a lower portion that can separate during impact. The breakable portion allows the spacer to segment into manageable pieces that reduce debris generation while maintaining the safety function of preventing wheel snagging during the impact event.
Solution Approach 2:
The breakable portion is designed to break and be discarded during impact to release the guard rail beam, while the upper and lower portions can be recovered and reused. This reduces debris generation by allowing recovery of functional components while sacrificing only the minimal breakable portion.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the spacer piece is designed to be strong and secure, then mounting stability is improved, but impact release capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer piece has different structural qualities in different locations: the upper and lower portions are designed with sufficient strength for stable mounting, while the breakable portion is specifically designed with reduced strength to fail during impact. This local differentiation allows the spacer to maintain mounting stability while enabling impact release capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The breakable portion is pre-designed with predetermined weak points and structural characteristics that ensure it will break at a specific location during impact, releasing the guard rail beam. This preliminary design of the failure mode ensures reliable impact release while maintaining overall mounting stability.
3Reliability
If the breakable portion is made thinner to facilitate rupture, then impact breakability is improved, but structural strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer is segmented into a breakable portion with reduced thickness for impact rupture and upper/lower portions with full thickness for structural strength. This segmentation allows the thin breakable portion to facilitate rupture during impact while the thicker mounting portions maintain structural strength for secure installation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the spacer have different thicknesses: the breakable portion has reduced thickness to facilitate rupture during impact, while the upper and lower portions maintain full thickness for structural strength and stable mounting. This local quality differentiation resolves the contradiction between breakability and strength.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a spacer piece for securing a guardrail beam to a support post in a guardrail system, the spacer piece including a breakable portion configured to break preferentially during an impact, and release the beam from the support post.