Lightweight design and post-impact attitude stability of extra-high grade guardrail based on 700L high-strength steel
- 1Shandong Hi-Speed Company Limited, Jinan, China
- 2Beijing Hualuan Traffic Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing, China
Abstract
To address the issues of excessive self-weight and insufficient post-impact attitude stability inherent in traditional HA-level (extra-high grade) beam-post guardrails due to oversized cross-sections, this paper proposes a lightweight design method utilizing 700L high-strength alloy steel. Through topology optimization, a novel guardrail structure comprising “inclined H-shaped posts” and “rectangular tube beams” was developed. Full-scale vehicle crash tests show that under the HA-level heavy-vehicle impact matrix specified in JTG B05-01–2013—namely a 25 t extra-large passenger bus, a 40 t heavy truck, and a 55 t tractor-semitrailer—the guardrail’s containment and redirection functions meet the corresponding HA-level heavy-vehicle requirements. None of the three vehicles rolled over, overrode, or straddled the guardrail, and all exited with stable post-impact attitude. Vehicle lateral intrusion is substantially reduced: under the 55 t tractor-semitrailer collision condition, the maximum dynamic equivalent vehicle lateral intrusion value (VIn) is reduced by 64.2% compared with conventional guardrails. In terms of lightweight design, the weight per linear meter of the guardrail is decreased from 230 kg to 180 kg, representing a reduction of 21.7%. Economic analysis shows that the reduction in material consumption lowers the overall material cost by approximately 10%–15%. This study demonstrates a material-structure co-design method that simultaneously improves safety, lateral intrusion resistance, lightweight level and economy for HA-level heavy-vehicle conditions, providing a theoretical basis and technical support for the engineering application of a new generation of high-performance bridge guardrails.
Related
- An Efficient Descriptor for Tubular LDPE Melt Strength via Physics-Guided Learning and Diffusion-Based Inverse Design
- High-strength, electrochemically efficient RuO2-MXene/CNTs hybrid fibres via nanostructure design for flexible electronics and energy storage
- Explainable ensemble learning with Bayesian Optimization for microstructure-driven tensile strength prediction and design optimization of Al–SiC metal matrix composites
- Tetrahedral DNA Nanostructures: A Structural-Family-Aware Review from Computational Design and Biological Stability to Translational Nanomedicine
- Polymer-based heterojunction photocatalysts for environmental remediation and solar fuels: a review on interface engineering, stability, and sustainable design
BibTeX
@article{xu2026lightweight,
title = {{Lightweight design and post-impact attitude stability of extra-high grade guardrail based on 700L high-strength steel}},
author = {Kunmiao Xu and Shuai Gong and Wei Wang and Xin Wang and Siyuan Liu and Shuming Yan},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0358588},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358588},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Lightweight design and post-impact attitude stability of extra-high grade guardrail based on 700L high-strength steel
AU - Kunmiao Xu
AU - Shuai Gong
AU - Wei Wang
AU - Xin Wang
AU - Siyuan Liu
AU - Shuming Yan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/15
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0358588
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358588
AB - To address the issues of excessive self-weight and insufficient post-impact attitude stability inherent in traditional HA-level (extra-high grade) beam-post guardrails due to oversized cross-sections, this paper proposes a lightweight design method utilizing 700L high-strength alloy steel. Through topology optimization, a novel guardrail structure comprising “inclined H-shaped posts” and “rectangular tube beams” was developed. Full-scale vehicle crash tests show that under the HA-level heavy-vehicle impact matrix specified in JTG B05-01–2013—namely a 25 t extra-large passenger bus, a 40 t heavy truck, and a 55 t tractor-semitrailer—the guardrail’s containment and redirection functions meet the corresponding HA-level heavy-vehicle requirements. None of the three vehicles rolled over, overrode, or straddled the guardrail, and all exited with stable post-impact attitude. Vehicle lateral intrusion is substantially reduced: under the 55 t tractor-semitrailer collision condition, the maximum dynamic equivalent vehicle lateral intrusion value (VIn) is reduced by 64.2% compared with conventional guardrails. In terms of lightweight design, the weight per linear meter of the guardrail is decreased from 230 kg to 180 kg, representing a reduction of 21.7%. Economic analysis shows that the reduction in material consumption lowers the overall material cost by approximately 10%–15%. This study demonstrates a material-structure co-design method that simultaneously improves safety, lateral intrusion resistance, lightweight level and economy for HA-level heavy-vehicle conditions, providing a theoretical basis and technical support for the engineering application of a new generation of high-performance bridge guardrails.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -