Pendulum Impact Testing of Steel W-Beam Guardrail, FOIL Test Numbers: 94P023-94P027, 94P030, and 94P031

摘要

This contains the test results from a series of seven pendulum impact testsconducted at the Federal Outdoor Impact Laboratory (FOIL) pendulum facility located at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) in McLean, VA. The purpose of this study was to develop an optimal testing procedure to determine the dynamic response for steel guardrail sections so that the behavior of a rail can be evaluated without conducting full-scale vehicle crash tests with autombiles. Standard steel w-beam rail sections were tested in this study; however, the test procedure eventually developed is expected to be used for the evaluation of rails composed of other materials, such as glass fiber-reinforced composite materials.