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Safety research
Crash tests measure guard rail strength
this battalion
MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1978
Page 5
3 A&M seniors
Rhodes nominees
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A passenger bus smashes into a
bridge guardrail at 60 mph.
The 33,000-pound bus leans pre
cariously, inside wheels off the
pavement, as it slides along the rail.
: Metal screeches. Steel rail posts
snap and fly through the air.
Prevented by the rail from going
off the “bridge” into a “river bed”
below, the bus grinds along to the
Five cameras,, running up to 500
frames of film per second, recorded
the impact. Ultra-slow motion mov
ies were obtained from the bus, from
an overhead pole and three points on
the ground.
Accelerometers in the dummies’
“heads” and “chests” recorded the
wrenching jerk of the bus slamming
into the rail. Forces measured by the
devices determine whether fatal, se
rious or minor injuries would have
been suffered by people aboard the
bus.
Life-saving data will be taken from
the film, frame by frame, analyzed
and evaluated by personnel under
Drs. Gene Buth, Hayes Ross and
Teddy Hirsch. It will be added to
other data from a previous crash test
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The Texas Transportation In
stitute. . .
end of the rail, topples onto its side
and skids to a stop.
As the dust settles, technicians
shut off high-speed movie cameras
and data recording equipment, and
converge on the site to assess the
rail’s behavior.
No one was killed or injured. The
bus was loaded with bags of sand to
simulate passengers’ weight and two
instrumented dummies rode in the
driver’s and front seats.
The bus was guided along a one-
mile track to the impact point by re
mote control, from a chase vehicle.
The planned “accident” took place at
the Texas A&M University Research
and Extension Center at Bryan,
under supervision of engineers and
technicians of the Texas Transporta
tion Institute.
be varied from test to test. Steel,
aluminum and concrete, normally
used or readily available for highway
hardware, will be employed.
Buth, Ross and Hirsch, civil engi
neering professors at Texas A&M,
specialize in dynamic impact testing.
“From the tests, we learn what
loads imposed on the structures and
what size posts, bolts and rails, and
heights are required to do the job,”
Buth said.
Previous designs were engineered
to contain autos and smaller vehi
cles. A design system to restrain
semi-trailer or concrete trucks is a
probable future project.
“Ultimately, we must provide a
roadway system that forgives impact
loads from 1,800 pounds to 80,000
pounds,” he said.
Research at the TTI proving
gounds, formerly runways at Bryan
Air Force Base, has led to numerous
life-saving features on highways
throughout the United States. The
work is funded by the Federal
Highway Administration, Texas De
partment of Highways and Public
Transportation and TTI.
Three Texas A&M University
seniors have been nominated for
Rhodes Scholarships to Oxford Uni
versity in England.
They are: Stephen R. Horn, son of
Mr. and Mrs. S. R. Horn of 910
Clearven in San Antonio; Karen L.
Hoermann, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Harvey G. Hoermann of P.O.
Box 6 in Refugio, and Thomas W.
Paterson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Alex
Paterson of Route 9 in Silver City,
N.M.
Eight Texas A&M students were
interviewed for the three nomina
tions. The national Rhodes Schol
arship Selection Committee will
choose 34 students from across the
United States.
In the past, three Texas A&M stu
dents have been named winners of
conducts this crash test . .
series and two more to follow.
From combined results, another
rail will be designed and con
structed, for a fifth test series.
“Our goal is to develop guidelines
for design of new bridge rails that
will safely contain and redirect vehi
cles that run into them,” Buth said.
The first test series used a school
bus.
Materials and rail geometry will
GIVE TO
®[F ®rai
the prestigious award. Paul T.
Hasse, class of 1976, is the most re
cent winner.
This year’s winners will enter Ox
ford in October 1979.
Candidates must be unmarried
American citizens between the ages
of 18 and 24. A grade point average of
3.75 or better, and a record of un
usual achievement in some outside
activity is also required.
The scholarships, awarded for two
years, cover tuition, some assistance
for travel and a maintenance allow
ance amounting to about $4,400 a
year, he noted.
If successful at the campus level, a
candidate is interviewed at state and
regional levels in December. Four
scholarships will be granted to the
six-state region that includes Texas.
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