Finite element modelling of a truck crashing into a new form of mobile vehicle blocker

In the last years, a new form of terrorist attack has sowed panic in western countries: vehicles have been run into crowded places injuring and killing many people. The first solution to preventing the vehicle ramming attack has been the placement of concrete barriers around areas that are potential terrorist targets. The performance of these systems is questionable and the design of new, effective and good-looking protection devices is a hot topic. The authors have already presented a new certified mobile barrier, which is able to stop a 3500 kg vehicle run at 64 km/h in a few meters thank to its high deformability and the adoption of water as a filler. The water flows out and removes an appreciable amount of the impact energy. In this paper, the crashes of a 7500 kg truck running at 64 km/h against a concrete block and a single barrier designed by the authors are analysed with the help of finite element (FE) calculations in Abaqus Explicit. The water in the barrier is modelled using Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH). Due to the complexity of the truck modelling, a very simplified geometry is adopted, which is a consequence of the different versions tested. According to the results, compared to the concrete blocks, the designed barrier is overall more effective, even in a single configuration.