FINITE ELEMENT ASSESSMENT OF W-BEAM ON INDONESIAN HIGHWAY ALIGNMENTS

Abstract

Road safety is currently one of Indonesia’s national programs. The program includes implementing forgiving roads on Indonesia’s toll roads. Since 2020, toll roads under construction have required the use of W-beam as roadside safety barriers. As an archipelagic nation, Indonesia has diverse topography, including lowlands, mountains, and extensive maritime areas. Research on the safety performance of W-beam under various geometric scenarios in Indonesia remains limited to this day. Therefore, this study employs finite element simulations using Abaqus/Explicit to evaluate the structural performance of W-beam guardrails under three representative Indonesian road alignment conditions: flat straight road, 5% downhill slope, and a 130-meter radius horizontal curve with 8% superelevation. Passenger vehicle impacts are simulated at 100 km/h with impact angles of 15°, 20°, and 25°. The simulation results show that the W-beam sustains permanent deformation under all tested scenarios. Under the 130-meter radius curve alignment, the Von Mises Stress in the W-beam remained below the material’s ultimate tensile strength, suggesting a structurally favorable response compared to straight and downhill alignments; however, this finding is based solely on numerical evidence and should be further validated through physical crash testing. The findings provide preliminary simulation-based guidance for the installation of W-beam guardrails on varied road geometries in Indonesia, supporting the adaptation of international road safety standards to local topographic and design conditions.