Study of the Impact of Vehicles against Concrete Barriers Delimiting the Area of Approach to Narrower Carriageways in Function of the Barriers Feature

This paper examines the influence of the different factors that affect the problem of the collisions against the concrete safety barriers used to delimit the area of approach to narrower carriageways. In particular we have studied the influence on the damage of the vehicle and the shear strength necessary in the joints between the barrier's elements. Moreover we point out some characteristic aspects of this kind of ar.r.iclpntc For this purpose we developed a specific software to simulate these collisions. The study showed that the most important factor is the angle formed between the inclined barrier and the longitudinal direction. The analysis also pointed out that these collisions can be very dangerous both for the first vehicle contacting the barrier and the following ones.