Development and Experimental Evaluation of a Steel Tube Vehicle Impact Attenuation System

摘要

This report first summarizes the scale model experimental program conducted by the Principal Investigator at the University of Cambridge in England. A design procedure based on these experiments is then developed and employed to design two full scale steel tube impact attenuation systems. These systems have been subjected to a full scale crash testing program involving vehicles of various weights impacting the units at different locations while traveling at 60 mph. The performance of these impact attenuation devices with respect to structural adequacy, impact severity, and vehicle trajectory are evaluated.