Metal Post Foundation Design for HE-Class Collision Energy Absorption
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing road equipment support structures, particularly those using concrete foundations, face challenges in achieving high energy absorption levels (HE-class) while being cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and ensuring proper ventilation and reduced manufacturing and transportation costs.
Innovation Solution
A metal foundation design with a base plate and elongate rods, featuring stiffening arrangements, allows for soil material packing and controlled force absorption, eliminating the need for concrete and facilitating ventilation, thus meeting HE-class requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If concrete foundations are used for supporting posts, then the foundation provides stable support and meets safety requirements, but the manufacturing cost, transportation cost, and environmental impact increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the concrete foundation with a metal foundation structure consisting of a base plate, elongate rods, and stiffening arrangements. This substitution eliminates the need for concrete mixing, curing, and heavy transportation, while providing equivalent or superior mechanical support properties through the engineered metal components that can be precisely manufactured and assembled.
Solution Approach 2:
The foundation is divided into separate functional components: a base plate for ground contact, elongate rods for vertical support, and stiffening arrangements for structural rigidity. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently with optimized materials and processes, reducing overall manufacturing complexity and transportation requirements compared to monolithic concrete foundations.
2Strength
If concrete foundations are used, then the foundation provides sufficient strength and stability, but the environmental impact increases due to concrete production and transportation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes concrete material with metal components (base plate, rods, stiffening arrangements) that have comparable or superior strength-to-weight ratios. This replacement eliminates the environmental harm associated with concrete production (cement manufacturing emissions) and heavy transportation, while maintaining the required foundation strength through engineered metal structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The foundation employs composite construction combining different metal components (base plate, rods, stiffening arrangements) that work together to achieve the required strength. This composite approach allows optimization of each component's material properties and geometry to meet strength requirements with reduced overall material usage and environmental impact.
3Reliability
If the foundation design allows energy absorption during collision, then passenger safety improves, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The foundation incorporates dynamic energy absorption capabilities through the interaction between the metal components during collision events. The base plate, rods, and stiffening arrangements are designed to deform and dissipate impact energy in a controlled manner, transforming the static structure into a dynamic system that actively manages collision forces to protect passengers.
Solution Approach 2:
The foundation design modifies structural parameters (geometry, material properties, component dimensions) to enable energy absorption during collisions. By carefully selecting and optimizing these parameters, the foundation achieves HE-class energy absorption performance without requiring complex additional mechanisms, relying instead on the inherent mechanical properties and configuration of the metal components.
4Ease of manufacture
If the foundation structure is simplified to reduce cost, then manufacturing and transportation become more efficient, but the ability to absorb energy during collision decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes structural parameters (rod dimensions, stiffening arrangement geometry, base plate configuration) to achieve maximum energy absorption efficiency within the simplified metal foundation structure. This parameter optimization ensures that the reduced-complexity design still meets HE-class energy absorption requirements while maintaining manufacturing and transportation efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite arrangement of base plate, rods, and stiffening arrangements creates a structure where each component contributes to energy absorption. This composite design achieves high energy absorption capacity without requiring any single component to be overly complex, allowing cost-effective manufacturing while maintaining safety performance.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
Foundation (1) for supporting a post (100), comprising a base (10) with a base plate (11) with an extent transverse an elongate extension direction (z) of the foundation (1) and having a first area (A). The base (10) further comprises at least one stiffening arrangement (12) with an extent in the extension direction (z) and having a second area (B), and which extends a first distance (a) from the base plate (11) in the extension direction (z). The base (10) further comprises at least three elongate rods (20) which extends a first length (I) upwards from the base plate (11) wherein each rod (20) is fixedly connected with a first end (21) either to the stiffening arrangement (12) or to the base plate (11). Each rod (20) is arranged at a second distance (b) from another rod (20) and is further arranged to be fixedly connected to the post (100) with a second end (22) which is distal from the first end (21) of the rod (20).