Explore the vast range of titles available.

Noise barriers are commonly used to reduce the adverse effects of traffic noise in both urban and suburban settings. While conventional systems constructed from concrete and steel provide reliable acoustic and structural performance, they raise sustainability concerns due to high embodied energy and carbon emissions. Glued-laminated (glulam) timber has emerged as a sustainable alternative, offering a reduced carbon footprint, aesthetic appeal, and effective acoustic performance. However, the crashworthiness of timber-based noise wall systems remains under investigated, particularly with respect to the safety criteria established in the 2016 edition of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH). This study presents the full-scale crash testing and evaluation of glulam rubrail and noise wall systems under MASH Test Level 3 (TL-3) impact conditions. Building on a previously tested system compliant with National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350, modifications were made to increase rubrail dimensions to meet higher lateral design loads. Three full-scale vehicle crash tests were conducted using 1100C and 2270P vehicles at 100 km/h and 25 degrees, covering both front- and back-mounted wall configurations. All tested systems demonstrated acceptable structural performance, effective vehicle redirection, and compliance with MASH 2016 occupant risk criteria. There was no penetration or potential for debris intrusion into the occupant compartment, and all measured occupant risk values remained well below allowable thresholds. Minimal damage to structural components was observed. The results confirm that the modified glulam noise wall system meets current impact safety standards and is suitable for use along high-speed roadways. This work supports the integration of sustainable materials into roadside safety infrastructure without compromising crash performance.

The tragic consequences of vehicles running into infrastructures have raised the need for perimeter protection. One common perimeter barrier is a set of piles or posts in an in-line geometry as an efficient way to contain or redirect errant vehicles. To date, the design of such barriers relies mostly on performing full-scale crash tests. These crash tests are expensive, and it is often practical to run such tests. In this paper, a general yet simple analysis-design model called TAMU-POST was developed to predict the response of a group of in-line piles impacted by a vehicle. TAMU-POST is based on the finite difference solution to the governing differential equation for a beam supported by piles. The piles are represented by single degrees of freedom consisting of a dashpot, a lumped mass, a spring, and a slider. A large number of computer simulations using a non-linear finite element program LS-DYNA as well as the data obtained from two full-scale crash tests were used to calibrate the proposed model. The design quantities are the barrier deflection, the vehicle dynamic penetration defined as the maximum vehicle intrusion into the barrier, as well as other parameters including the bending moment in the piles and in the beams. A Monte Carlo Simulation analysis was conducted using TAMU-POST to evaluate the probability of failure of a group of in-line piles under a given vehicular impact when considering the inherent uncertainties associated with the input parameters and the model coefficients.