Progressive Failure Simulation of Security Cable Barriers

Perimeter security cable barriers are widely used by various agencies all over the world to defeat threat vehicle penetration. New barrier designs require crash test validation prior to implementation. Full-scale vehicular crash tests are costly, whereas designs via finite element simulations are time consuming and require specialized skills. Based on full-scale crash tests, an innovative and simple algorithm has been developed to model the progressive failure of security cable barriers. A multi-body approach based on the first principles of physics was developed to substantially reduce computer runtime. The solution algorithm uses a large number of small time steps. Nonlinear vehicle and cable forces and deformations are calculated based on compatibility conditions. This methodology has been validated against three full-scale crash tests. This cable barrier model, displaying simulation results graphically in a time series, provides realistic response parameters of a security cable barrier design in less than 10 minutes of runtime with reasonable accuracy.