Guardrail Post Arrangement with Buckling Base Plate
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing post arrangements for securing roadways on buildings fail to provide an adequate balance between high stopping power for heavy vehicles and low loads on vehicle occupants, leading to potential break-throughs or excessive injuries in crashes.
Innovation Solution
A post arrangement with a strut mounted on a base plate, where the strut initially absorbs impact energy by deforming independently of the post, allowing for controlled deformation and energy dissipation, and a base plate designed to 'buckle' and relieve stress on the connection point, ensuring the post can deform further under high loads without tearing the weld.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the containment capacity of a protective barrier construction is designed too high, then a high stopping power for heavy vehicles is achieved, but the vehicle occupants can be seriously injured due to excessive impact forces
Solution Approach 1:
The post arrangement is segmented into multiple functional zones: a base plate with welding zones, a post with predetermined breaking points and buckling areas, and strut elements. This segmentation allows different parts to absorb and dissipate impact energy through controlled deformation, reducing the transmission of harmful forces to occupants while maintaining overall stopping power
Solution Approach 2:
The post is equipped with predetermined breaking points and buckling areas that are designed to fail in a controlled manner during impact. These pre-designed weak points act as energy-absorbing elements that deform beforehand to reduce peak forces, cushioning the impact before it reaches the occupants while still providing adequate stopping power for heavy vehicles
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the containment capacity of a protective barrier construction is designed too low, then the loads on vehicle occupants are reduced, but the vehicle can break through the protective barrier construction
Solution Approach 1:
The post arrangement incorporates multiple parameters that can be adjusted to achieve the desired balance: the position and geometry of predetermined breaking points, the dimensions and location of buckling areas, the spacing and orientation of struts, and the thickness and material properties of the base plate. By optimizing these parameters, the structure achieves adequate containment capacity while controlling the forces transmitted to occupants
Solution Approach 2:
The design converts the potentially harmful rigid impact into beneficial controlled deformation. The predetermined breaking points and buckling areas are designed to fail in specific ways that absorb impact energy, transforming the harmful direct force transmission into beneficial energy dissipation through plastic deformation and controlled structural failure
3Stability of the object's composition
If the post is rigidly connected to the base plate, then structural integrity is maintained, but the weld between the footplate and post can tear under high impact forces
Solution Approach 1:
The base plate is designed with specific thickness and geometry parameters that allow it to deform and relieve stress on the weld connection before the weld fails. The preliminary design of the base plate's mechanical properties creates a stress-relief mechanism that protects the weld from tearing under high impact forces while maintaining overall structural integrity
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
This design achieves a 'two-stage' deformation behavior that effectively stops vehicles by dissipating energy through post deformation, while preventing weld failure and maintaining structural integrity, thereby providing high stopping power and minimizing occupant load.
Implementation Method 1
only the post is initially deformed in the direction of the strut
Implementation Method 2
a lot of energy is dissipated via the deformation of the post arrangement
Implementation Method 3
the base plate is designed to 'buckle' and relieve stress on the connection point
Implementation Method 4
the post is deformed further in the direction of the strut and is supported on this
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~4
Figure 5
AI summary
The present invention relates to a post arrangement 10 for fastening a guardrail construction 100 to structures, comprising a base plate 14 by means of which the post arrangement 10 can be fastened to the structure BW, a post 12 attached to the base plate 14 to which the guardrail construction 100 can be attached, and a strut 16 attached to the base plate 14. According to the invention, the strut 16 at least partially surrounds the post 12, extends in the direction of the post 12, and is spaced a predetermined distance d from the post 12 at its region closest to the post 12.