Evaluation of impact severity reduction in a bi-material demonstrator based on recycled tires

Abstract

In the contemporary context, the substantial accumulation of non-biodegradable end-of-life tire residues poses a significant environmental concern. Annually, thousands of tons of these residues, highly flammable and constituting a severe fire hazard, are generated. This study proposes a novel application for these residues: incorporation into guardrails to create a hybrid-material system capable of dissipating higher levels of impact energy. This innovation aims to enhance the safety of guardrails. To achieve this objective, a numerical model will be employed to quantify the impact mitigation achieved through the introduction of a viscoelastic material derived from end-of-life tires. A downscaled model is used to establish a robust numerical-experimental correlation. Once satisfactory results are obtained from the numerical model, the virtual analysis of a full-scale model will be possible, without the need for physical tests, which are very expensive.