January/February
2001
Using
the Computer and DYNA3D to Save Lives
by
Martin W. Hargrave and David Smith
They
occur every day of the year on our city streets, our county roads, our
state highways, and our Interstate Highway System. They occur at dawn,
during daylight, in twilight, and at night. It can be raining, snowing,
foggy, or perfectly clear. "They" are motor vehicle crashes
- more than six million each year, resulting in three million human
injuries and 42,000 premature deaths each year, every year.
How do we, as a nation, reduce this annual toll? How do we mitigate
the injuries and deaths that occur each year on our roadways? A partial
answer to this question - at least for run-off-road crashes - may be
the expanded use of a revolutionary new motor vehicle crash-analysis
tool, DYNA3D.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has traditionally taken the
leading role in reducing the effects of run-off-road crashes. Many of
these run-off-road crashes involve a single vehicle leaving the roadway
and colliding with a man-made roadside structure or feature. Examples
of man-made roadside structures and features include guardrails, roadside
signs, overhead lighting supports, roadside ditches, and slopes.
Aggressive driving is the root cause of many of these crashes. Alcohol
or drug impairment is often the cause. Sometimes both are factors.
FHWA has a continuing focus on improving these man-made structures and
features to reduce the potential for serious or fatal injury to vehicle
occupants involved in a collision. Also, continually improving the safety
of our nation's roadways is one of FHWA's five strategic goals. Within
the past decade, FHWA has led a program focused on employing and expanding
the capabilities of using the computer and a new crash-analysis tool,
DYNA3D. DYNA3D is a nonlinear finite element code that can be used,
in conjunction with the computer, to replicate three-dimensional motor
vehicle crashes. When using the computer and DYNA3D, the objective is
to make man-made roadside structures and features more crashworthy -
that is, to ensure that they are capable of transferring the high-speed
collision energy from the colliding vehicle to the structure/feature
in a controlled manner so that the vehicle slows or stops, the vehicle
remains upright, and the occupants experience minor or no injuries.
This can be accomplished because when the computer and the DYNA3D code
are used by highly skilled engineers, a very accurate replication of
a real-world vehicle collision can be generated. Thus, with the aid
of DYNA3D, the collision is depicted in a virtual manner, and subsequently,
it can be slowed down and viewed one frame at a time. When the collision
interaction of the vehicle and the man-made roadside structure or feature
is less than desired, virtual (computer) changes can be made to that
structure or feature, and the collision can then be repeated. This process
can be repeated incrementally until a crashworthy result is obtained.
For the past 50 years, costly trial-and-error crash testing has been
the only procedure available to develop improved, crashworthy roadside
structures and features. However, by using the computer and DYNA3D in
this manner, expensive crash testing can be substantially reduced or
eliminated.
Because real-world vehicle collision results can be mimicked by the
computer, crash testing can be limited and relegated to the role of
final proof-of-results determination. However, it cannot be overemphasized
that, when using the computer and DYNA3D to replicate real-world motor
vehicle crashes, caution must always be used to ensure that the results
are accurate.
Use of the computer and DYNA3D provides other benefits as well. Listed
below are three primary benefits and one note of caution:
1.
Increased Visibility. When using the computer and DYNA3D, it is
possible to view the virtual collision and the interaction between
the colliding motor vehicle and the roadside safety structure or feature
from any angle, any position, one frame at a time. If parts of the
vehicle (fenders, bumpers, engine, etc.) prevent observation of the
effects of the collision on a particular part of the vehicle, these
intervening parts can be "removed" from the picture, one
part at a time, until the vehicle contact and its behavior upon striking
the structure or traversing the feature can be clearly observed. (The
removed vehicle parts are still part of the collision. They have just
been virtually removed from the picture.) If, for example, a wheel
of the vehicle snags on a guardrail post and is the root cause of
an abrupt stoppage of the vehicle's forward motion, this inappropriate
- and potentially dangerous - interaction between the vehicle and
the guardrail post can be uncovered and clearly viewed.
2. Quantitative Data. Not only can the collision process be
clearly observed, but the values of deformations, loads, and stresses
(to name a few) of any part of the safety structure can be quantitatively
determined at any point in time during the collision process. Engineers
are trained to use numbers such as these to determine where and when
a structure may fail - for example, where and when a guardrail may
fracture during a vehicle collision. If a guardrail fails by allowing
the colliding motor vehicle to pass through and behind, the resulting
collision with whatever is behind the guardrail can be much, much
more dangerous than the collision with the guardrail itself. As an
example, a cliff or a steep downward slope may be behind the guardrail,
and if the guardrail fails, the resulting fall and impact with the
ground at the bottom could be life-threatening.
3. Design Optimization. Computer-generated crashes can be used
to determine the potential improvements in the crashworthiness of
man-made roadside safety structures under several circumstances: when
the structure is made from a different (hopefully improved) material,
to compare alternate designs, and to check the effects of slopes or
ditches in front of the structure. (Actual crash tests are usually
performed only on flat and level terrain.) Using the computer and
DYNA3D, roadside safety structures can be improved in a cost-effective,
step-by-step manner to obtain the optimum in crashworthy roadside
structures, while reducing the need for expensive real-world crash
tests.
4. Reality Checks Are Needed. With virtual crashes, spurious
results are always possible if the motor vehicle and roadside structure
models contain errors or inaccuracies. Therefore, after completing
the initial roadside safety structure model on the computer, researchers
must test the model by generating a virtual motor vehicle crash into
the structure, and the virtual crash must mimic a real-world crash
test previously conducted.
"Prior
to the use of the computer and DYNA3D, roadside safety structures
were crash-tested under very limited conditions because of the expense
of testing," said Michael F. Trentacoste, director of FHWA's
Office of Safety Research and Development. "These tests were
very restricted by the terrain and physical conditions of the test
location. Also, only a few vehicle types, speeds, and angles of approach
could be used. In addition, researchers were limited to analyzing
visual data obtained by high-speed cameras. Things were often missed.
Cameras would not show everything that needed to be seen because of
poor angles of view or because the motor vehicle obscured critical
interactions. In addition, quantitative data associated with the crash
were extremely limited, so researchers had to rely a great deal on
common sense and personal judgment. The computer and DYNA3D changed
all of this."
How
FHWA Came to Use Virtual Crash Testing
The DYNA3D code was developed originally by the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory (LLNL) at Livermore, Calif., in the 1970s to analyze
the effects of underground nuclear explosions and the potential for
intercontinental ballistic missiles to penetrate hardened silo enclosures.
Today, LLNL maintains a version of this code for use by both the laboratory
and other authorized independent collaborators.
About 1988, the primary developer of DYNA3D left LLNL to continue
development of DYNA3D independently at a new start-up company. That
company became Livermore Software Technology Corporation (LSTC). As
the developer continued work on DYNA3D, he created a vastly improved
version, which he called "LS-DYNA."
LS-DYNA continues to be improved, particularly in the arena of motor
vehicle crash analysis, and it is the version that FHWA and its funded
researchers use under the generic name "DYNA3D."
"Experts at FHWA were among the first to realize this amazing
crash-analysis tool's potential for assisting in the design of improved
highway guardrails, bridge supports, signposts, and other roadside
safety structures," said Trentacoste.
On Oct. 1, 1992, FHWA and NHTSA jointly established, under a competitive
contract, the National Crash Analysis Center. NCAC is operated by
the George Washington University at their campus in Ashburn, Va.,
for the purpose of examining vehicle crashworthiness by using LS-DYNA.
Since 1992, this center has served as the primary source for computer-based
LS-DYNA motor vehicle models for both FHWA and NHTSA. Many of these
NCAC-developed motor vehicle models have been used in FHWA's DYNA3D
crash-analysis program. Now, many of these FHWA-funded motor vehicle
models are available for use by researchers via NCAC's Web site (www.ncac.gwu.edu).
University
Centers of Excellence Make DYNA3D Crash Analysis Available
After the completion of a few initial DYNA3D motor vehicle models
by NCAC and other researchers, FHWA in 1994 initiated a set of six
cooperative agreements with universities to develop computer-based
models of six different roadside safety structures. The desired outcome
was to improve the crashworthiness of these roadside safety structures
by using DYNA3D. FHWA also intended to make these roadside structure
models available to other researchers on an as-needed basis via the
Internet.
In 1994, all of the universities contracting with FHWA initiated work
using the LLNL version of DYNA3D. However, by 1996, all had independently
converted to the LSTC version, LS-DYNA, because of LS-DYNA's superior
capabilities.
FHWA researchers quickly appreciated that DYNA3D offers powerful new
capabilities for analyzing the multifaceted interactions associated
with a motor vehicle crashing into a roadside structure. FHWA wanted
to view the complex interactions between the motor vehicle and the
roadside structure, ideally at various speeds, and to determine the
resulting motions of the vehicle and the deformations of the vehicle's
occupant compartment during a collision. FHWA also wanted to better
understand and determine the attendant energy-absorption mechanisms
that came into play during the collision, both those associated with
the motor vehicle and those associated with the impacted structure.
DYNA3D provides a much better understanding of the complex crash event
than any model previously observed by FHWA researchers.
However, even as engineers marveled at the wonders of DYNA3D, it was
evident to FHWA researchers that even more sophisticated models of
both the motor vehicles and the roadside safety structures would be
needed in the future. And if, in future efforts, the virtual collision
and the subsequent trajectory of the vehicle after the collision were
to accurately reflect a real-world crash, then even more highly skilled
and trained DYNA3D researchers would be required.
Thus, it soon became obvious that DYNA3D was a very sophisticated
crash-analysis tool; that even greater skills and abilities would
be required by engineers using this tool in the future; and that without
a very specialized education, a great deal of training, and a great
deal of experience in using DYNA3D, a perfectly capable engineer could
not and would not successfully use this new tool.
Over time, this increased understanding of the potential of DYNA3D
and the requirements for effectively using this new crash-analysis
tool led FHWA to expand the program. In late 1997, four FHWA-funded
"centers of excellence" were created to develop new and
improved roadside safety structures for other customers, including
state and local departments of transportation, roadside safety structure
manufacturers, and other federal agencies in need of these services.
The centers were also created to expand, over time, the number and
the skill level of researchers capable of applying this new crash-analysis
tool. The four centers of excellence, established through a competitive
contract, are located at Texas A&M University, the University
of Nebraska at Lincoln, the University of Cincinnati, and Worcester
Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. Each of these four well-established
engineering institutions had specialized engineers who were willing
to invest significant amounts of time and effort to learn how to accurately
and effectively apply DYNA3D modeling, using their supercomputers.
Each also had a staff of skilled engineers who were committed to enlisting
and training students and other faculty members in the use of DYNA3D
to improve the crashworthiness of roadside safety structures and features.
The highly experienced staffs at these institutions build DYNA3D models
of the safety structures, and then they design, conduct, and analyze
controlled virtual collisions using DYNA3D motor vehicle models developed
by NCAC. New roadside safety structure models, substructure component
models, and other specialized models have been and continue to be
created at these centers. Once created, these models are placed in
a virtual inventory at a Web site located at NCAC for repeated use,
modification, and manipulation as needed or requested.
DYNA3D
in Action in Texas
Roger Bligh is a prime example of the outstanding engineers with extensive
practical knowledge that these FHWA-sponsored centers of excellence
bring to the expanding program of vehicle crash analysis. Bligh is the
director of the Center of Excellence for Transportation Computational
Mechanics at the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) located at Texas
A&M University. Since 1994, he has been directing efforts to use
the computer and DYNA3D to replicate vehicle crashes. His growing experience
with the evolving DYNA3D crash-analysis tool is coupled with an even
greater experience in roadside structure development and vehicle crash
testing at TTI. He also serves as manager of TTI's Highway Safety Structures
Program and has been involved in roadside safety structure research
and crash testing for the past 14 years.
"The computer simulation research team at our Texas A&M center
has been conducting many simulated crash tests per year, and that number
may be increased as research requests increase," said Bligh. "Here
at TTI, we conduct more than a hundred crash tests per year with each
test costing approximately $25,000. Obviously, a savings is realized
when the computer and DYNA3D are used to simulate some of these crash
tests instead of actually conducting them here at our crash test facility."
All of the centers of excellence perform sponsored research. While FHWA
sponsors some of the research being performed on roadside safety structures,
particularly roadside barrier testing, the centers also have research
grants from and contracts with state agencies and private industry.
For example, TTI is conducting a research project in collaboration with
the Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT). This sponsored
research must be won by the centers on a competitive basis.
"With the experience and working knowledge that our research team
has accumulated to date in applying the computer and DYNA3D to vehicle
crash analysis, we can be very competitive," Bligh said. "Private
industries will find the crash-analysis capabilities of our center to
be of great practical value. Furthermore, as awareness of the center's
capabilities grows, more proposals for both crash analysis using the
computer and DYNA3D and for final proof-of-results crash testing are
emerging."
This is equally true of the other centers of excellence. Private industry
and the state and local highway agencies are encouraged to take advantage
of these resources and the specialized expertise available.
The Texas DOT has been working closely with the Texas A&M center
on the development of new roadside safety structures that address particular
problems and conditions found in Texas. For example, the center has
been working with the state to improve safety on roadway bridges.
"Use of a W-beam tubular bridge railing is the second most common
bridge railing on Texas state roads and highways, and our state DOT
is working with the center to determine how well this bridge railing
performs, from a safety standpoint, when used with a box culvert bridge,"
Bligh explained. The concept is that when a motor vehicle collides with
the bridge rail, the rail will redirect the vehicle, allowing it to
remain on the bridge, while the rail itself breaks away from the bridge
support, thereby reducing damage to the bridge structure. This also
allows the bridge rail to be constructed with less support and at a
lower cost. After a great deal of DYNA3D crash analysis, redesign, and
some real-world proof-of-result crash tests for verification, a successful
design for this bridge rail has now been approved.
|
A
model of a tie-down portable concrete barrier system. |
According
to Bligh, another frequent use of the DYNA3D crash-analysis tool involves
varying the roadside terrain conditions surrounding roadside structures
and then determining the resulting crash performance of these structures.
Because Texas is so large and the topography throughout the state varies
greatly, the terrain surrounding actual roadside safety structure installations
varies considerably. (Examples include steep adjacent grades and unusually
narrow curves.) The laboratory topography on which roadside safety structures
are crash-tested is completely flat, level, and straight; therefore,
it does not duplicate the actual conditions of installation. However,
by simulating the vehicle crash conditions using DYNA3D, researchers
can virtually re-create these typical topographical conditions. Accordingly,
a safety structure can be virtually crash-tested through a series of
what Bligh calls "aparametric investigations." These are simulated
vehicle crashes in which the terrain conditions are varied prior to
each collision to examine the response of the vehicle and the resulting
potential for injury to vehicle occupants - that is, the crashworthiness
of the roadside structure. This assists the Texas DOT in the development
of special installation methods or structural modifications needed for
these differing topographical conditions.
Bligh reports that the Texas A&M center has accumulated a library
of validated DYNA3D models of different roadside safety structures.
These DYNA3D structural models are also made available to other centers
of excellence and to other DYNA3D researchers after approval by FHWA.
By using this library, the Texas A&M center can respond much faster
to a new customer, thereby saving time and money.
In addition, the Texas A&M Center of Excellence maintains a dynamic
interchange with NCAC, which develops the DYNA3D motor vehicle models,
for occasions when a specific modification of the motor vehicle model
is needed to execute a specific crash analysis. NCAC can modify the
model to reflect a wheel spinning, changes to a suspension system, or
a finer "mesh" of the vehicle model in the area of collision.
(DYNA3D is a nonlinear finite element code, and the mesh size refers
to the size of the elements that compose the vehicle model.) These specialized
vehicle models can be inserted into the DYNA3D model to improve the
fidelity of the computer-generated collision in relation to an identical
real-world collision. As the capabilities of the center increase, Bligh
envisions that many more and varied motor vehicle models, representing
the characteristics of vehicles commonly found in Texas, will be used
to evaluate and improve the roadside safety structures.
For example, "Collisions involving roadside safety structures and
motor vehicles commonly used in Texas, such as full-size pickup trucks
and SUVs [sport utility vehicles], may have very different effects and
collision results [than] collisions involving only typical automobiles.
This is because these vehicles are much different in construction and
are higher off of the ground," said Bligh.
DYNA3D
in Action in Nebraska
The FHWA-sponsored Center of Excellence for DYNA3D Vehicle Crash Analysis
at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL) serves a somewhat similar
role as the Texas A&M center.
John Reid, the director of the UNL center, is also an associate professor
of mechanical engineering at the university. Reid has been involved
in DYNA3D crash analysis for 10 years - first at General Motors Corp.
and subsequently at UNL. Because of his prior education and work experience,
Reid brings an extensive understanding of applying the computer and
DYNA3D to vehicle crash analysis.
Reid reports that for the past 10 years, eight midwestern states have
been pooling research funds to sponsor the development of a varied
list of improved roadside safety structures. This work is being accomplished
at the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MwRSF), which is also located
at UNL.
Each year, the participating state DOTs propose projects to be investigated.
And each year, an advisory group representing the states works with
the engineers at MwRSF to select five of the projects for investigation.
The selection criteria are the abilities of the MwRSF staff to do
the work successfully and within the budgeted cost.
"The Midwest Roadside Safety Facility and the University of Nebraska
Center of Excellence coordinate their respective activities to promote
the best use of the talents and experiences of the two professional
staffs and to ensure that the roadside safety structures developed
here are crashworthy," Reid said.
The research team at the center develops a DYNA3D model of either
a component/subassembly of the roadside safety structure under investigation
or, on many occasions, the entire roadside safety structure. The team
then ensures that these computer-based models replicate either a prior
indoor laboratory test or a prior outdoor vehicle crash test, even
if that prior test is considered a failure. If the computer-based
model does not replicate the prior test, changes that are consistent
with real-world physical principles are made to that model until it
does replicate the actual test.
If the computer-based model is a model of an entire roadside safety
structure, when fidelity of the model is confirmed by a previous test,
additional computer-generated vehicle collisions are conducted and
subsequently analyzed. Design changes are made to this computer model
of the roadside structure after each vehicle collision until the vehicle
collisions are deemed crashworthy - mitigating serious or fatal injury
to vehicle occupants. The final computer-generated design of the roadside
safety structure is then replicated in the real world by the MwRSF
staff, and a proof-of-results crash test is subsequently conducted.
|
A
simulation of a pickup truck impacting the side of a bullnose
barrier. |
The
UNL center obtains DYNA3D models of the motor vehicles used from NCAC.
The center also collaborates with NCAC to obtain specialized changes
to these existing vehicle models when they are required to ensure
the fidelity of computer-generated crashes. However, in many cases,
the center's research team has the skills and abilities to modify
these vehicle models to fit their needs or even to develop new vehicle
models when required for specialized or custom testing.
Reid reports that a recently completed project jointly conducted by
the university center and MwRSF is a Bullnose Guardrail System for
use in protecting support structures located in the middle of divided
highways, particularly the bridge piers of overpasses.
"This guardrail system is in the shape of a partially flattened
cylinder or oval," Reid explains. "And development of this
design involved the analysis of two complete models of the guardrail
system at the university's center of excellence, accompanied by nine
full-scale crash tests conducted by MwRSF."
This project demonstrated how the DYNA3D crash-analysis tool was used
successfully in combination with physical crash tests to create breakthrough
safety structure hardware. The Bullnose Guardrail System has been
submitted to FHWA for approval for use on the National Highway System.
Approval by FHWA certifies that the system is crashworthy. Upon this
approval, the eight Midwestern states will begin to deploy the bullnose
system.
The latest challenging project, according to Reid, is working with
the Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway to identify ways to "soften"
the concrete speedway track by improving the collision barriers. This
project may lead to more work with the Indy Racing League.
"These motor racing projects demonstrate another feature of the
combined University of Nebraska Center of Excellence and the Midwest
Roadside Safety Facility," said Reid. "We are open for project
proposals from any and all sources. Roadside structures, no matter
how unique, can be virtually designed using the computer and DYNA3D
by the University of Nebraska Center of Excellence, and the structures
can then be proof-of-results crash-tested at the Midwest Roadside
Safety Facility. Both the center and the safety facility want to be
challenged to produce far-reaching, useful safety products."
Objectives
of the FHWA DYNA3D Program
From FHWA's standpoint, the primary objective of the DYNA3D research
program, according to FHWA's Trentacoste, is to "develop improved
roadside safety structures and geometric features that mitigate harm
- either fatal or serious injuries - to motor vehicle occupants involved
in run-off-road crashes into roadside safety structures or on roadside
geometric features."
A second objective is to develop and verify DYNA3D models of many
of the more common roadside safety structures and geometric features
and "to place [these models] on the shelf" for future use.
Following acceptance of these models by NCAC, the models developed
are intended for use by other researchers who may have a need to use
them in subsequent vehicle crash-analysis assignments. This library
of models will reduce start-up times associated with future projects.
An additional objective of the DYNA3D program is to stimulate interest
and involvement in highway safety and vehicle crash analysis by a
number of universities in the United States. Universities with faculty
and staff who have demonstrated skills and abilities in using the
computer and DYNA3D to analyze impact problems, who can apply them
to vehicle crash analysis, and who can develop working relationships
and obtain funding from state DOTs and roadside safety equipment manufacturers
have the potential to become future centers of excellence for DYNA3D
analysis.
"The longer term, overall objective of this program is to further
develop the capabilities of this crash-analysis tool and to create
core groups of trained researchers so that both the tool and the researchers
become an integral part of the design and redesign process associated
with improved roadside structures," Trentacoste said. The enhanced
understanding of the crash event provided by this tool goes far beyond
what can be currently expected when using existing techniques such
as crash testing.
And finally, for the computer and DYNA3D to become an integral part
of the design process for roadside safety structures, several tasks
- the computer-generated vehicle crash analysis, the attendant design
or redesign of the structures, and the proof-of-results crash testing
- must be completed within time frames appropriate for the customer's
needs.
DYNA3D
Is Available to State DOTs and Private Companies
|
An
LS-DYNA simulation of the side impact of a vehicle striking a
slip-base luminaire pole. |
It
is important to note that the very capable technical staffs at NCAC
and the four existing centers of excellence are available to satisfy
customers' needs on a pay-as-you-go basis. State, county, and local
DOTs and the many companies that are manufacturing and marketing roadside
safety structures can now take advantage of this cutting-edge technology.
They can put this technology to work on their roadside safety problems
by employing the technical staffs at one or more of these five facilities.
Roadside safety structures with the highest degree of crashworthiness
are currently being developed at these five facilities, and this output
is expected to grow in the years to come as customer knowledge increases
and acceptance of this new technology tool proliferates. In fact,
it is clear from results to date that the computer and DYNA3D are
making it possible for state DOTs who have taken advantage of this
new technology to resolve some of the more difficult roadside safety
problems that have been plaguing them over the years.
A good example of such problem-solving is the effort to determine
the best way to anchor a guardrail end terminal so that a colliding
vehicle of any size and type will not be impaled by the end of the
guardrail, will not flip over, or will not pull the terminal out of
the ground. The newest generation of guardrail end terminals was developed
using DYNA3D. This new terminal brings the impacting vehicles to a
sudden controlled stop and reduces the potential for injury to vehicle
occupants.
As more and more computer-based crash tests are correlated with real-world
tests, confidence in the accuracy and timeliness of computer-generated
test results will increase. And as an ever-increasing number of motor
vehicle models become available for crash analysis, FHWA and the state
DOTs may soon be in a position to evaluate if and when simulated crash
tests using the computer coupled with DYNA3D can be used to replace
many of the real-world crash tests now being conducted as acceptance
tests.
|
The
actual side-impact crash test of a vehicle hitting a slip-base
luminaire pole. |
Saving
Lives and Mitigating Injury
At a transportation safety conference held during 1999 in Washington,
D.C., former Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater told the
attendees that saving lives and preventing transportation-related
injuries were at the top of the priority list of the U.S. DOT. He
went on to say, "Safety is our North Star by which we in DOT
will be guided and judged."
By using the computer in combination with DYNA3D, we can now obtain
powerful new insights into motor vehicle crashes that occur every
day on our city streets, our county roads, our state highways, and
our interstate highways. As a result, we now have at hand the potential
to prevent some of the 3 million injuries and the 42,000 premature
deaths that occur every year on our nation's roads.
For run-off-road motor vehicle crashes into roadside safety structures,
we now have a North Star to guide us to a safer future. That North
Star involves the use of the computer and DYNA3D.
Martin
W. Hargrave is a research engineer in FHWA's Office of Safety
Research and Development. One of his responsibilities is developing
and managing research programs associated with FHWA's DYNA3D crash-analysis
program. Before joining FHWA in 1979, he worked for 17 years in various
engineering assignments in the private sector. He holds engineering
degrees from the University of Alabama, Penn State, and the Catholic
University of America in Washington, D.C.
David
Smith is a frequent writer on transportation policy, issues, and
technologies. A graduate of Cambridge University, he is the principal
of AMANUENSIS Creative Group, a professional writing and consulting
group located in Vienna, Va.
You
can learn more about highway research programs through the Web site
of FHWA's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (www.fhwa.dot.gov).
Other
Articles in this Issue:
Learning
to Beat Snow and Ice
Safe
Plowing - Applying Intelligent Vehicle Technology
Improving
Roadside Safety by Computer Simulation
Using
the Computer and DYNA3D to save lives
LS-DYNA:
A Computer Modeling Success Story
Preservation
of Wetlands on the Federal-Aid Highway System
Internal
FHWA Partnership Leverages Technology and Innovation
New
Applications Make NDGPS More Pervasive
Center
for Excellence in Advanced Traffic and Logistics Algorithms and Systems
(ATLAS)
National
Work Zone Awareness Week (April 9 to 12) - Enhancing Safety and Mobility
in Work Zones