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Project update july 2021

After the mock-up of the BG4US LIFE15 2.0 guardrail has been installed in March 2018, the circular biobased guardrail has been further modified to a single sided circular biobased hybrid guardrail to be used for Provincial roads – containment level N2. This modification has resulted in that more circular biobased materials can be applied in our innovative guardrail development.

At the moment, spare parts are manufactured and assembled to see how the installation of our BG4US LIFE15 guardrail should be done under real conditions near the road, once it has been certified. In the parallel, besides the dynamic simulations already performed, pre-crash tests are performed with part of the BG4US construction, using a real car and using different biobased guardrail system set-ups with short lengths (see the Figure below), to learn what can be expected performing the real crash test. Learnings are made with the help of a crash test expert and high speed cameras installed. In the parallel, materials testing are ongoing and a  first screening of LCA of the BG4US LIFE15 guardrail are performed. The mechanical properties are a part needed for a technical file to get our innovative guardrail certified, once the crash test has been performed. In autumn 2021, a last pre-crash test is anticipated to be performed, before entering the phase of the real crash test.

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Mock-up 2.0 prototype Guardrail has been installed
On March the 23rd 2018, the BG4US LIFE15 was opened officially and celebrated with our project partners, and main stakeholders Rijkswaterstaat and the Province Noord-Brabant. The last weeks, the complete BG4US team have worked hard to assemble all parts and realised the Mock-up BG4US LIFE15 2.0 biobased guardrail. Via rotational extrusion, extrusion based profiles have been made in the shape of the designed guardrail 2.0. Subsequently, the parts obtained of this process have been assembled on a steel strip getting profiles with a length of 4 meter. In the parallel steel constructions were welded, so that the 4m profiles could be attached to poles which are placed in the soil. All this work has resulted that a BG4US Mock-Up 2.0 has been installed at the N272 – hectometre number 15.6 – 15.4 of ca. 40 metres in total. Opening of this Millstone gave insight in possibilities how to assemble the different parts of the guardrail. The BG4US LIFE15 2.0 Mock-Up will be monitored now over time to see how materials will behave in time. By doing so, it will be learned if changes need to be made before the next testing phase – production of extruded based beams with a mould designed, followed by a crash tests to get the BG4US LIFE15 certified.
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