Deformable Road Safety Barrier Panels for Impact Energy Absorption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current road safety barriers either have projecting and discontinuous elements that increase vehicle deceleration and risk of injury or are too rigid to absorb impact, posing risks to drivers and vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A road safety barrier with flat, deformable panels and vertical support elements that absorb kinetic energy without projections or discontinuities, providing necessary rigidity through longitudinal stiffening elements and supplementary support structures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If undulated bands are used in guardrails to absorb impact energy, then the barrier can deform to reduce impact forces, but the projecting parts of the undulations increase vehicle deceleration and risk of injury
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses flat, deformable panels made of metal sheets that can bend and deform during impact to absorb kinetic energy. These panels are connected to vertical support elements to form a barrier that flexes under impact loads, providing energy absorption without the harmful projecting elements of traditional undulated guardrails.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the barrier from undulated profiles with projecting elements to flat panel configurations. The panels are designed with specific dimensions and material properties that allow controlled deformation during impact, absorbing energy while maintaining a smooth surface that does not increase vehicle deceleration or injury risk.
2Stability of the object's composition
If New Jersey barriers are used to provide continuous rigid structure, then the barrier maintains structural integrity, but it cannot deform to absorb impact energy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the barrier into discrete modular units consisting of panels connected to vertical support elements. Each unit can deform independently during impact, allowing energy absorption through controlled deformation of individual panels while the overall barrier structure maintains integrity through the interconnected modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the static rigid structure of traditional barriers into a dynamic system where flat panels can deform during impact. The panels are designed to bend and flex under impact loads, converting kinetic energy into deformation energy, while the vertical support elements provide structural stability. This dynamic response allows the barrier to adapt to impact forces rather than rigidly resisting them.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively reduces the risk of injury by absorbing impact energy while maintaining structural integrity to contain vehicles, even those as large as buses or juggernauts, without resorting to undulations or excessive rigidity.
Implementation Method 1
Each of the panels (P) is made of a material that is deformable consequent upon an impact by a vehicle, so as to absorb kinetic energy generated by the impact
Data Source
AI summary
A road safety barrier has a plurality of panels flanking one another at respective vertical lateral edges thereof, made of a material deformable upon impact by a vehicle, and a plurality of vertical support elements supporting the panels. The vertical support elements include a first and a second vertical support member facing one another at the flanked vertical lateral edges of the panels, on opposite sides with respect to two major faces of the panels. The barrier has components for reciprocally blocking the first and the second vertical support member to the two opposite faces of the panels, and longitudinal stiffening elements coupled to the panels at respective upper longitudinal edges thereof.