Advanced supercomputer simulations could be a big hit for truckers and the people who design guardrails, protective barriers and roadway signs. Srdjan Simunovic of Oak Ridge National Laboratory is part of a team conducting a study aimed at gaining a better understanding of crash performance of these safety structures.

"Very limited computational simulation work has been conducted on crash performance of barriers when impacted by medium- and heavy-duty trucks because of the computational cost and complexity of full-scale truck models," Simunovic said.

The design and engineering of these structures strongly influence the injury-causing g-forces experienced by vehicle occupants and whether the trucks are redirected back into traffic, causing additional hazards.

Partners in the study, funded by the National Transportation Research Center Inc., are Battelle Memorial Institute and the University of Tennessee.