Safety Performance Evaluation of Ultra-High-Performance Concrete Semi-Assembled Barrier

To address the limitations of traditional concrete barriers in practical applications, this study proposes a novel semi-assembled concrete barrier utilizing ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) as the barrier shell material. The thin shell of the barrier is prefabricated using UHPC and filled with normal concrete (NC) to form a protective structure. Finite element software is employed to simulate collisions between three models and the barrier, and the barrier safety is preliminarily assessed according to the Standard for Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Barriers. A full-scale vehicle collision test validated the model, and an analysis was conducted. The results demonstrate that the established model exhibits a high accuracy. The peak value of the 25 ms collision force in this simulation can be used as the basis for static load design. None of the three vehicles exhibited overriding or riding phenomena nor did they deviate from their guide frames, and following collisions with three different vehicles, no overall damage was observed on the semi-assembled barrier. Occupant impact velocity (OIV) remained below 12 m/s, while occupant ride-down acceleration (ORA) stayed under 200 m/s2. The barrier meets SB protection-level requirements; thus, the findings can offer theoretical support for promoting the widespread adoption of this new type of barrier.