Wood-Cement Particleboard: Impact Behavior and Potential Application in Crash Barriers

Abstract

The impact characteristics of wood-cement particleboard (WCPB) made with wood particles produced from the waste stream are investigated. With a view toward sustainable practices, the potential application of WCPB to enhance concrete crash barriers is explored. Laboratory experiments using a drop-weight test and compression tests on ring-shaped WCPB specimens were conducted. Both tests indicated that WCPB has the capability of absorbing large amounts of energy. Finite-element simulations of the experimental tests were conducted using the LS-DYNA software. Subsequently, crash simulations of a vehicle frontally impacting a concrete crash barrier enhanced with WCPB facades having a variety of geometric shapes were conducted. The simulations show that the concrete barrier enhanced with a facade consisting of a bundle of WCPB tubes minimizes impact vehicle decelerations and reduces the potential for passenger injuries.