CORUS HELPS ADVANCE ROAD SAFETY
16 January 2004 - Corus Automotive

The steel and aluminium producer has already gained approval from the UK Highways Agency for its Celsius ‘highway bridge parapet’ (HBP 200) safety system, which has been developed to meet the requirements of the new European EN 1317 standard. Corus has developed a solution which embraces the current standard and potential future requirements over the past two years. Approval follows crash testing at MIRA, the international centre for automotive research and development, based at Nuneaton in the UK which validated a programme of ground breaking computer simulation at Corus Automotive Engineering.

The new design was developed by combining the company’s 40 years of experience in designing crash barrier systems with an innovative approach in advanced computer modelling techniques by Corus Automotive Engineering. MG Rover Group assisted the project by supplying engineering data and vital assistance at the validation stage.

Corus Tubes has manufacturing sites at Oosterhout, Zwijndrecht and Maastricht in the Netherlands, whilst the lead plant for this product, a new Corus branded hot finished hollow section product, ‘’Celsius HBP 80 x 80 ‘’, will be at Corby in the UK. As part of Corus strategy to add value to material through technology and service, Corus Automotive Engineering based at Coventry in the UK handles design, simulation and manufacturing feasibility support from car and vehicle manufacturers providing engineered solutions. Supporting Corus Tubes in this development was a natural extension of the skills base.

In designing the new system, Corus faced several challenges. First, the need to address the ever changing designs of today’s modern car. In addition, Corus needed to design, develop and test a system that would meet the new Europe-wide standard, although the practice is that each country tends to have its own unique system. The design complies and could be used outside the UK.

Commenting on its approach, which allowed Corus to meet the new European standard, Trevor Mustard, principal engineer at Corus Tubes said: 'Traditional methods of destructively testing new designs is both expensive and time consuming so we were keen to use advanced computer modelling to help reduce development time and costs. While this is standard practice in car design, we discovered that not only was the existing software to simulate bridge parapet impacts outdated but also the data was based on outdated vehicles, which do not accurately reflect cars of today.'

To create the sophisticated simulation routines and models required to stimulate the two dynamic events (crashes of a 1,500 kg car at 80 kph and 110 kph), Corus enlisted the help of MG Rover Group, who supplied engineering data on its latest Rover 75 model thereby providing a vehicle that reflects latest thinking in occupant safety.

Corus Automotive Engineering adapted the MG Rover Group-supplied full vehicle crash finite element model to simulate EN1317 impact with a fully deformable finite element model of the bridge parapet. This included modelling of the vehicle suspension and steering behaviour, dynamic friction between vehicle and bridge parapet, and simulation of the complete event (to over 250 milliseconds) to accurately calculate both vehicle decelerations and occupant injury. Simulation results were interpreted in the form of vehicle cabin intrusion, occupant head impact and bridge parapet dynamic deformations to meet EN1317 performance criteria, also allowing estimation of the vehicle trajectory after its contact with, and contained departure from, the bridge parapet.

Mr Mustard continued: 'MG Rover Group’s help was a great bonus to the design process inasmuch as it gave us realistic vehicle data. In addition, MG Rover Group provided vital support for final validation testing, enabling us to critically examine the computer model prediction against the actual performance of our crash barrier system. This allowed us to optimise the simulation and ultimately the design of the barrier with key safety benefits for vehicle occupants.'

The new design will only be available via licensed fabricators who will be supplied with the special Celsius HBP 80 x 80 RHS (rectangular hollow section) system from Corus Tubes Special Projects in Corby. The tubular steel design is fully hot dip galvanised to give low maintenance and a life expectancy in excess of 20 years in most situations. The parapet system offers more adaptable post positioning and easier fabrication than the previous version as well as improved performance all round. Certain design features of the containment systems are also protected by pending patents.

The new standard EN1317-5 is due to be published in 2004 and will provide the Europe-wide benchmark for road restraint systems including highway bridge parapets and should allow for a more open market and improved road safety.

The new parapet system complements other Corus highways engineering products, which include a range of lighting columns and safety fences as well as materials for sign gantries, footbridges, bridges and related structures.

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