TESTING OF STATE ROADSIDE SAFETY SYSTEMS. VOLUME X: APPENDIX I - CRASH TESTING AND EVALUATION OF A MINI-MELT FOR A W-BEAM, WEAK POST (G2) GUARDRAIL SYSTEM

The purpose of this study is to crash test and evaluate new or modified roadside safety hardware and, where necessary, redesign the devices to improve their impact performance. The three major areas addressed in this study are the impact performance of bridge railings, transitions from guardrails to bridge railings, and end treatments for guardrails and median barriers. This report presents the results of four crash tests conducted on a Mini-MELT for use with the W-beam, weak post (G2) guardrail system. The first test involved a 2000-kg (4409-lb) pickup truck impacting the terminal at the beginning of length of need at a nominal impact speed and angle of 100 km/h (62.2 mi/h) and 25 degrees. The vehicle was successfully contained and redirected, but the vehicle rolled over on its side as it lost contact with the guardrail. The terminal was redesigned and evaluated in a second crash test, which involved a 2043-kg (4500-lb) passenger car impacting the guardrail at 4.6 m (15 ft) upstream of the last wooden CRT post (post 5) in the reverse direction at a nominal impact speed and angle of 96.5 km/h (60 mi/h) and 25 degrees. The W-beam rail element was ruptured, allowing the vehicle to penetrate behind the guardrail. The terminal was again redesigned and evaluated with the third and fourth crash tests. The third test was a repeat of the second test on the modified terminal. The fourth crash test involved a 2043-kg (4500-lb) passenger car impacting the modified terminal at the beginning of length of need at a nominal impact speed and angle of 96.5 km/h (60 mi/h) and 25 degrees. The vehicles were successfully contained and redirected in both tests and the modified Mini-MELT was judged to have performed satisfactorily. This volume is the tenth in a series of 14 volumes for the final report.