Vehicle Collision with Bridge Piers
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 10, Issue 3
Abstract
Inelastic transient finite element simulations are used to investigate the demands generated during collisions between vehicles and bridge piers. Such collisions have occurred in the past, sometimes with catastrophic consequences. Two different types of trucks and two different bridge/pier systems are used in the simulations. The approach speeds for the trucks range from 55 to 135 kph. Various quantities of interest are extracted from the finite element results and used to develop a better understanding of the vehicle/pier crash process and to critique current specifications addressing such events. Although physical vehicle–pier impact tests were not carried out as part of this research, a variety of exercises are conducted to provide confidence in the analysis results. The simulations show that current collision design provisions could be unconservative and that there may be a population of bridge piers that are vulnerable to accidental or malicious impact by heavy trucks.
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Acknowledgments
Financial support for this research was provided in part by the Florida Department of Transportation (Project BC-355-6), the National Science Foundation (Project 0334364), and the University of Michigan. The writers are grateful to Dr. Dean Alberson of TTI and Mr. Don Moffett at the Department of State for providing the vehicle/bollard collision data. The opinions stated here are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors or the individuals mentioned above.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 10 • Issue 3 • May 2005
Pages: 345 - 353
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Aug 13, 2003
Accepted: May 4, 2004
Published online: May 1, 2005
Published in print: May 2005
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