WHO HAS USED THE RESULTS OF FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS?
Texas In a full-scale crash test of the T6 tubular W-beam bridge railing, commonly used on Texas box culvert bridges, the impact performance was unacceptable because the test vehicle, a pickup truck, overturned. Also, considerable damage to the bridge deck was observed. Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) personnel elected to use FEA to evaluate design modifications and to develop an improved bridge rail. FEA was used to optimize the design of the bridge rail posts to achieve controlled breakaway response, eliminate vehicle snagging, and significantly reduce deck damage. The performance of the post was verified through dynamic impact tests. In addition, a tubular thrie-beam rail replaced the W-beam in the T6 system. FEA visually depicted that this modified bridge railing will redirect the test vehicle in a stable manner and would likely meet the NCHRP Report 350 requirements. “Finite element crash analysis was an integral part of the redesign of the T6 bridge railing. As a resul
