Prospects for the use of composite and polymer materials in transport construction

Abstract

Abstract The article discusses the prospects for the use of road construction elements made of composite and polymer materials. Currently, the main materials used in the production of road infrastructure elements are metal, concrete and plastic. The use of modern polymeric materials will eliminate the disadvantages of the materials used with the same advantages. The study considers the possibility of replacing steel energy-absorbing elements of frontal road barriers with energy-absorbing elements, which are made of a polymer material based on ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). The comparison was carried out on the basis of digital modeling of a vehicle collision with a frontal road barrier according to the energy absorption criterion using the LS-Dyna nonlinear dynamics software package. The developed digital models are validated by bench and field tests. Based on the results of the virtual tests, the dimensions of the energy-absorbing elements of the polymer structure of the frontal road fence were selected, which in their properties is not inferior to the used metal analogue. The results obtained prove the prospects of using modern composite and polymer materials in road safety systems.