Abstract
Flexible guardrails are now considered very relevant to limit the consequences of an impact because of their influence on the trajectory followed by the vehicle. In fact, thanks to the behaviour of their components, they exert a driving action that is applied as a yawning couple which brings the car back on the roadway. It follows how relevant is to study the geometry of the guardrail, in order to prevent such accidents as the roll-over of the vehicle, which can occur in the case of high trucks, or the jumping across the guardrail. Considering all the now recalled problems, the present paper deals with a numerical simulation of the said impact, which was carried by means of commercial codes, with reference to a common pick-up and to the conditions applied during the standard tests on such guardrails. By this procedure, which can be applied to more complex cases, it is possible to analyse the behaviour of those car components that are involved in the impact and to identify the steps that occur during the contact.