Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E01—CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, RAILWAYS, OR BRIDGES
  • E01F—ADDITIONAL WORK, SUCH AS EQUIPPING ROADS OR THE CONSTRUCTION OF PLATFORMS, HELICOPTER LANDING STAGES, SIGNS, SNOW FENCES, OR THE LIKE
  • E01F15/00—Safety arrangements for slowing, redirecting or stopping errant vehicles, e.g. guard posts or bollards; Arrangements for reducing damage to roadside structures due to vehicular impact
  • E01F15/02—Continuous barriers extending along roads or between traffic lanes
  • E01F15/04—Continuous barriers extending along roads or between traffic lanes essentially made of longitudinal beams or rigid strips supported above ground at spaced points
  • E01F15/0407—Metal rails
  • E01F15/0423—Details of rails

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a fusible mechanism applicable to the bolted connection between the horizontal fences, beams or railings and the vertical support post of a metal vehicle side impact containment system or metal safety barrier, which confers on said union the ability to be released or decoupled in a controlled manner when the force acting on it, as a result of the actions produced by the impact of a vehicle against the metal safety barrier, exceeds a certain predetermined threshold value, said barrier being general safety of use on lateral and medium-sized embankments of roads and, sporadically, on road bridge board edges, containment wall crowning or similar structure.
• metal safety barriers used on the margins and mediums of roads. These systems have the purpose of resisting vehicle impacts by preventing them from passing through and, thereby, guaranteeing protection to third parties, allowing its redirection and controlled deceleration, so that the vehicle leaves the impact stable and continues at a speed
• a containment system successfully fulfills a crash test on a real scale when all the requirements and acceptance criteria defined in the regulations are met, in particular for the level of containment, severity of impact, deformation and exit angle, and therefore guarantees adequate security conditions, mainly for the occupants of the impacted vehicle and third parties. It is then affirmed that a containment system has the capacity to contain a certain type vehicle.
• a containment system (specifically designed to receive the crash of heavy vehicles such as trucks and coaches) must pass crash tests on a full scale, both of passenger cars and heavy vehicles (heavy passenger cars, trucks and coaches ), as of light vehicles (light passenger cars).
• This allows normal and high containment systems to also guarantee the safety of lighter vehicles, which constitute the most frequent type of accident.
• the normal containment level N2 requires the passing of the TB32 test (impact of a heavy tourism of 1,500 kg of weight, d 1 lOKm / h speed, and with an angle of shock against the containment system of 20 °) plus the TBl 1 test (impact of a light tourism of 900 Kg. weight, at lOOKm / h speed, and with an angle of shock against the containment system of 20 ° ).
• commercial containment systems present various solutions to act against the impact of both light and heavy vehicles and present the following problems:
• Safety barriers designed to resist impacts of heavy passenger cars generally have operating mechanisms capable of responding progressively to the impact of passenger cars with different severity index (transverse kinetic energy of impact) guaranteeing a maximum deformation 'reasonably' reduced due to the impact of a higher severity index and, in all cases, a level of severity (based on the measurement of decelerations in the vehicle during impact) sufficiently low and adequate reconduction of the vehicle at its exit.
• severity index transverse kinetic energy of impact
• the basic configuration of the metal safety barriers corresponds to the union of two basic metal elements and two others, the third and the fourth, optional:
• the fence can have different configurations: one or more profiles longitudinal sections of open or almost closed section, in the form of double or triple wave or in the form of "C” or “sigma", connected to the post by means of a separating element; cables or tensioned metal rods attached directly to the post; longitudinal profiles in the form of double or triple wave joined in its lower part to metal sheets with free movement capacity and calibrated to oppose a certain resistance to an impact.
• the post placed vertically at regular intervals and fixed to the (s) fence (s) or. rail (s), whose function is to hold and maintain the fence (s) or rail (s) of the barrier at a certain height during the impact.
• the posts are generally metal profiles of section in "C”, in “U”, in “I”, in “Sigma”, in “Z”, round or rectangular closed tubular sections or other type of section, which are inserted in a embankment or medium of a road so that a part of its length is embedded in the ground or through a plate with anchor bolts inserted in the ground.
• the post deforms to a greater or lesser extent by bending and / or twisting with respect to the recess or anchoring section.
• the separating element is the intermediate connecting piece that is often arranged between a fence or rail and the post, whose function is to:
• the separator is called an energy absorber.
• the absorber function of the separator is characteristic of high containment barriers since said barriers have a very robust or rigid basic structure, composed of the fence (s) and robust poles arranged at a short distance capable of containing heavy vehicles and, therefore, said structure is too rigid for the impact of light vehicles.
• the separator-absorber is specifically designed to reduce the severity of the impact of light vehicles against these rigid basic structures, softening in contact with the post and favoring the redirection of the vehicle.
• this one. element consists of a single component or an assembly assembled from metal plates and / or profiles formed in a more or less complex way, or in tubular profiles of square or rectangular section, open or closed.
• the • energy absorption capacity of a safety barrier is achieved by means of elastic adapters as a sheath located on the fences or railings.
• the strap has the function of: (I) distribute the stress caused by the impact between several posts, in order to reduce the transverse deformation of the barrier and
• the various components that constitute a metal safety barrier are assembled together, normally, by means of bolted type joints, that is, those formed by a screw or bolt with thread, an internally threaded locking nut and one or more washers.
• the typical sequence of the impact of a tourism against a metal safety barrier of those constituted by a continuous horizontal fence supported by vertical supports, installed on the margin or median of a road, is the following:.
• the initial impact between tourism and the barrier occurs between the lateral front part (left or right depending on the collision, either left or right) of tourism and the metal fence.
• the fence transmits the efforts to the nearest post which begins to deform, twisting and bending backwards. Since the impact occurs ahead of the center of gravity of the vehicle, it prints the vehicle in a redirecting direction.
• the separator [if it exists) keeps the vehicle's wheels away from the base of the post, to avoid widening.
• the post When the post depletes its deformability, from a certain angle of backward bending, it is necessary to release the joint between this post and the fence, to prevent the latter from descending vertically dragged by the post and, when a certain appearance appears height difference between the contact fence and the center of gravity of the vehicle, it is destabilized, tends to tip over or cross the barrier transversely, with the fence almost folded down.
• the fence behaves as an element subjected to traction or "cable” transmitting longitudinal and transverse deformation forces to the posts adjacent to the "decoupled” post and thus propagating the impact on The direction of travel of the vehicle.
• the mechanism of fusibility of the barrier is normally located at the junction between the separator and the post and consists, either, of a phenomenon of "tearing" of the head of one or several screws passing through two holes of the post or of the separator, either in a progressive “cut” of sheet metal membranes that separate a series of aligned holes from each other forming part of the bolted joints, of the separator with the post or of the post with auxiliary connecting parts, or in the detachment of any part intermediate connection, etc.
• the only fuse mechanism that, until the present invention, has been used is that of crossing the head of the connecting screw of the fence with the post, "tearing" said head the elongated hole of the fence corresponding to this union.
• this mechanism is very poorly controllable and the loads that produce the fusibility vary and are not very repeatable.
• the separator fulfills its distance and maintenance function of the height of the fence in contact with the vehicle, as well as contributing to achieve a deformation of the barrier (transversal working width) as small as possible .
• the use of the separator has three drawbacks:
• the fence is such that, once the vehicle hits said post, it has sufficiently deformed, the section of the post facing tourism being in its position of least inertia and, as a whole, the post ⁇ is already remarkably bent by embedding in the field. b) That it avoids the vertical downward drag of the fence towards the ground by the post when it deforms back and down and thus maintains the height of it in contact with the vehicle, which allows to guarantee the stability of tourism during and after impact. c) That the release of the connection between the post and the fence occurs at the appropriate time, neither before nor after, so that the loads and deformation resulting from the impact are distributed in the as many consecutive posts as possible, thus limiting the maximum transverse deformation of the barrier.
• the present invention provides a fusible mechanism for the bolted joint between the horizontal fences, beams or railings and the vertical support post of a metal safety barrier, which confers on said union the ability to be released or uncoupled in a controlled manner when The force transmitted to it, as a consequence of the actions produced in the barrier due to the lateral impact of a vehicle against it, exceeds a certain predetermined threshold value, obtaining the same technical advantages that the separating element brings to the State of the Art operation of the safety barrier but avoiding its inconveniences and, at the same time, improving its behavior by configuring, in addition, a narrower, more robust and more economical metal barrier.
• the screwed fuse junction (3) of the invention described below is integrated in a metal safety barrier composed of a continuous horizontal impact element formed by one or several horizontal continuous fences or railings 25. (1), supported through said Fuse connection (3) by vertical clamping elements or vertical posts (2) inserted in the ground (4) at regular intervals, as shown in Fig. 1 and in Fig. 3.
• the fusible bolted joint (3) is formed (see Fig. 4) from a 30 metal screw (5) having, along the length of the threaded rod (10) and 'a certain distance from the head (9) of the screw , a straight section (11) or a certain area, preferably cylindrical, that has been subjected to a specific mechanical, thermal or chemical treatment, in such a way that said section (11) or zone of the screw has a mechanical resistance to breaking substantially lower ⁇ Ia of all other sections of the rest of the rod (10) of the screw (5).
• This section (1 1) or zone of lower mechanical resistance of the rod (10) located below the head (9) of the metallic screw (5) of connection (3) between the fence (1) and the post (2) of a metal safety barrier is called a "fuse section” and characterizes the screw (5) as a "fuse screw” and the joint (3) between fence (1) and post (2) as a “screwed fuse joint” .
• One of the technical advantages of the fusibility mechanism object of the present invention is that the intensity of the mechanical treatment or of the chemical treatment that is applied on the fuse section (1 1) or fusible zone of the screw, determines the final value of the mechanical resistance at break that this section or zone (1 1) presents and, therefore, the value of its difference with the nominal mechanical resistance of the screw (5). In this way, by varying the intensity of said treatment on a section or zone, the moment and the magnitude of the fusibility or uncoupling force of the joint (3), which has been described above, are achieved.
• the treatment to which the section or zone (1 1) of the rod (10) of the connecting screw (5) of the fence (1) with the post (2) of the metal safety barrier is subjected, to decrease its mechanical resistance and converting it into a fuse is, preferably, a treatment of mechanical type or mechanization consisting of the execution of a cylindrical throat (12) of smaller diameter than the rod (10) of the screw (5), located at a certain distance of The head (9), as shown in Figure 6.
• a treatment of mechanical type or mechanization consisting of the execution of a cylindrical throat (12) of smaller diameter than the rod (10) of the screw (5), located at a certain distance of The head (9), as shown in Figure 6.
• the relationship between the diameter of the throat (12) and the diameter of the rest of the stem (10) of the screw, for a given constituent material determines the value of the fusibility force and the difference in mechanical resistance between the section or fuse zone and the nominal screw.
• a constructive variant of the mechanical fusibility treatment is the execution of one, two or more grooves (12 ') in the rod (10) of the screw (5), ⁇ a certain distance from the head (9), perpendicular to the axis of the rod (10) or slightly inclined with respect to said perpendicular.
• Said grooves (12 ') may all be located in the same straight section of the screw, as shown in sub-figure 7a or they may be located in different straight sections and close to each other, as shown in sub-figure 7c.
• the relationship between the number and depth of the grooves (12 ') and the diameter of the rest of the rod (10) of the screw, for a given constituent material determines the value of the fusibility force and the resistance difference mechanical between the section or fuse zone and the nominal screw. -. . . .
• FIG. 8 Another constructive variant of the mechanical fusibility treatment (see Figure 8) is the execution of one, two or more notches (12 ") in the rod (10) of the screw (5), at a certain distance from the head (9), with the notch shafts perpendicular to the shaft axis (10) or slightly inclined with respect to said perpendicular.
• Said notches (12 ") can all be located in the same straight section of the screw, as shown in sub-figure 8a or they can be located in different straight sections and close to each other, as shown in sub-figure 8c.
• the relationship between the number and depth of the notches (12 ") and the diameter of the rest of the shaft (10) of the screw, for a given constituent material determines the value of the fusibility force and the resistance difference mechanical between the section or fuse zone and the nominal screw.
• the fusible connection (3) between fence (1) and post (2) achieved by means of a fusible screw (5) with a section or fusible zone (1 1) located in the rod (10) at a certain distance from the head (9 ), so that the rod (10) goes through, successively, the fence (1) through the hole (13) made therein and the post (2) through the hole (14) made therein, It is located between the fence (1) and the post (2) once the joint (3) between the fence and the post is executed, as indicated in Figure 9, you can incorporate a flat washer (6), preferably rectangular, such as Figure 13 is shown, located in the screwed connection (3) below the head (9) of the screw (5) and above the fence (1), said flat washer being pierced by the rod (10) of the screw (5) that passes through the central hole (16) made in the flat washer (6) The effect. You can also incorporate this screwed fuse connection (3) a second flat washer (7) with a central hole (17), preferably
• the screwed fuse joint (3) between fence (1) and post (2), object of the present invention, as described above, has important technical advantages when used on a metal safety barrier configured only by a fence ( 1) continuous horizontal and vertical support posts (2) arranged at regular intervals, such as the one shown in Figure 3.
• the type of fusible joint (3) also offers the same technical advantages when Ia Metal safety barrier constituted by the fence (1) and posts (2) incorporates a rear tie rod (25) attached to the post (2) by means of a screwed connection (26), preferably non-fusible, as shown in Figure 1 1. '
• both the bolted joint (3 ') between the fence (1) and the intermediate piece (15), as well as the bolted joint (3 ") between the piece (15) and the post can be fuses. well both unions (3 ') and (3 ") at the same time.
• FIG. 15 Another constructive alternative to achieve the controlled fusibility of the joint (3) between fence (1) and post (2), consists in the use of a fuse washer (18) instead of a screw (5) whose rod (10) has a section or fuse zone (1 1), as shown in Figure 15.
• the fuse washer (18) is arranged below the screw head (5) and above the fence (1) and is capable of allowing the passage of the screw head (5) through its central hole (19), from a certain level of force applied on the joint, as a result of the impact of a vehicle against the barrier.
• Figure 15 shows how the ' rod (20) "non-fuse" of said screw
• Figure 1 Shows the straight section of a metal safety barrier, composed of a continuous horizontal fence (1) supported, by means of the screwed fuse joint (3) on a vertical post (2) inserted in the ground (4).
• Figure 2. Shows, by means of sub-figures 2a, 2b and 2c, the typical sequence 'of lateral impact of a tourism against a metal safety barrier, with fusible behavior of the junction (3) between the fence (1) and the post (2).
• Figure 3.- Corresponds to a perspective side view of a section of
• ' metal safety barrier composed of a continuous horizontal fence (1) supported, by means of fused screw connections (3) on two vertical posts (2) inserted in the ground (4), these unions being constituted by a fusible screw (5) , a rectangular flat washer (6) located below the screw head, a square flat washer (7) located below the lock and tightening nut (8).
• Figure 4. Corresponds to one.
• Figure 5. Corresponds to a graphic representation by means of two images, 5a and 5b ' , of the force (F) transmitted to the screw (5) of the fusible union (3) from tourism that impacts laterally against the barrier and tensions ( T) that occur on it, on the fence (1) upwards and on it. Pole (2) down, subjecting shear stress to the fuse section (1 1) of the rod (10) of the screw (5) fuse of the joint (3) between fence (1) and post (2).
• Figure 6. It shows two images, sub-figure oa and sub-figure 6b, of a fusible metal screw (5) with a fusible section materialized by a cylindrical throat (12) at a certain height of the rod (10) below the Ia head (9).
• Sub-figure 6a corresponds to the meridian section of the fuse screw (5) and sub-figure 6b to a three-dimensional view thereof.
• Figure 7. Shows three images, sub-figure 7a, sub-figure 7b and sub-figure 7c, of a fusible metal screw (5) with a fusible section materialized by a pair of slots (12 ') executed at a certain height, of the rod (10) perpendicular to it, • below the head (9).
• Sub-figure 7a corresponds to the meridian section of the fusible screw (5) with the two slots (12 ') executed in the same section
• sub-figure 7b is a three-dimensional view thereof
• sub-figure 7c corresponds to Ia meridian section of the fusible screw (5) with the two slots (12 ') located in two different sections and close to each other, of the rod (10).
• Figure 8. Shows three images, sub-figure 8a, sub-figure 8b and sub-figure 8c,
• Figure 9. Shows two images, the sub-figure 9a in explosion and the sub-figure
• FIG. 9b Shows the straight section of a metal safety barrier, composed of a continuous horizontal fence (1) supported, by an intermediate piece (15), on a vertical post (2) inserted in the ground (4), being The union
• Figure 11. Shows the straight section of a metal safety barrier, composed of a continuous horizontal fence (1) supported, by means of the screwed fuse joint (3) on a vertical post (2) inserted in the ground (4) and a continuous rear tie (25) attached to the post by means of the joint (26).
• Figure 12. Shows the straight section of a double metal safety barrier, composed of two horizontal continuous fences (1) and a vertical pole (2), arranged symmetrically one on each side of the post, and supported, both fences, on it by means of the screwed fuse connections (3), the vertical post (2) being inserted in the ground (4).
• Figure 13 Shows the three-dimensional image of a rectangular flat washer (6), of those arranged below the head of the fusible screw, with its. bore central elongated (16). '
• Figure 14. It shows the three-dimensional image of a square flat washer (7), of those arranged below the head of the fusible screw, with its round central hole (17). . .
• Figure 15. It shows two images, the exploded sub-figure 15a and the assembled sub-figure 15b, of the fused screw connection between a fence (1) and a post (2) of a metal safety barrier, composed of Ia combination of a non-fusible screw (5) and a fuse washer (18), passing through the rod (20) ' of the screw, successively, the central hole (19) of the fuse washer (18) arranged below the screw head , the central hole (13) of the fence (1), the hole (14) of the post (2) and the central hole (17) of a flat washer (7) arranged below the lock nut (8) and tighten the union.
• Figures 1, 3, 6, 9, 1 1, 12, 13 and 14 show a particular embodiment of the present invention consisting of a bolted metal connection (3) between the fence (1) and the post (2) of a metal safety barrier, formed by a metal screw (5) with a preferably round head, a flat rectangular metal washer (6) preferably located below the head (9) of the screw, another
• nut, and a metal lock nut (8) whose screw (5) has in its rod (10), at a certain distance from the head (9), a section or zone (12) of diameter smaller than the diameter of the rod (10), preferably cylindrical, as a throat that is called a section or fusible zone, since it constitutes a zone of lower mechanical resistance than the rest of the rod (10) and the screw (5) that it presents in its rod (10) this area as a throat with less mechanical resistance, is called a fusible screw.
• the rod of the fusible screw (5) crosses, successively, the flat washer (6) located below the head (9) of the screw, the fence (1), the post (2), the flat washer (7) and.
• the nut (8) which is Ia. which closes and tightens Ia. screwed connection (3), as shown in Figure 3.
• said rod (10) goes through, successively, the central hole (16) of the rectangular flat washer (6), the central hole (13) of the fence ( 1), the corresponding hole (14) of the post (2), the central hole (17) of the flat square washer (7) and the central hole of the lock nut (8) and tighten, as shown in the Figures 9.
• the position of the section or fuse zone (12) along the rod (10) of the fuse screw (5) is such that, once the joint (3) between the fence (1) and the post (definitively executed) 2), as shown in Figure 9, the section or fuse zone (12) machined in the rod (10) as a throat, is confined approximately inside the holes (13) of the fence (1) and (14) of the post (2) and it can thus be considered that the theoretical surface that separates the fence ' (1) and the post (2) "would cut" the rod (10) of the screw (5) of union between both, in The fuse zone (12).
• the screwed connection (3) of the controlled fuse type, between fence (1) and post (2) is applied both to a metal safety barrier configured only from a continuous horizontal fence (1) supported by vertical posts (2) , arranged at regular intervals and inserted in the ground (4), as shown in Figure 1, as a metal barrier that incorporates, in addition to the above, one or several subsequent horizontal continuous braces (25), fixed in Ia back of the posts (2), as shown in Figure 11, or as a double metal barrier, that is, with two fences (1) arranged symmetrically on each side of the posts (2), as shown in Figure 12.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Architecture (AREA)
• Civil Engineering (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• Refuge Islands, Traffic Blockers, Or Guard Fence (AREA)
• Bridges Or Land Bridges (AREA)

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