Dynamic performance of a sandwich structure with honeycomb composite core for bridge pier protection from vehicle impact

The pier of a bridge crossing the road is susceptible to vehicle impact, and thus it would be useful to design an energy absorption structure to reduce the damage or even avoid the collapse of bridge under the collision of aberrant cars. To provide good crashworthiness and performance, an energy absorption structure consisted of thin-wall 'U' shape steel and filled composite honeycomb tubes was adopted. The present paper aims to assess the dynamical performance and energy absorption capacity of the designed protection structure under various vehicles collision for its application, in which the Ford Taurus, Chevrolet pickup and truck provided by NACA (National Crash Analysis Centre) are adopted in the numerical simulations. For obtaining reliable results, the FE (finite element) model of energy absorption structure and actual vehicles are separately calibrated by experimental results. Based on the validated FE modelling technology, the dynamical response and performance of the designed protection structure are investigated considering various influential parameters, including impact velocities, angles, and types of vehicle.