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From the Richmond Times Dispatch, interesting article.
It's a Steel Deal
SAFER barrier's breakthrough came from a switch in material
BY NATE RYAN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
The most difficult aspect of developing one of the most promising safety advances in auto racing involved a rather peculiar paradox: convincing the powers that be in the Indy Racing League and NASCAR that soft walls needed to be steel.
For Dean Sicking, the director of the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility that designed the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction barrier, it was a hard sell.
"There's a sketch that looks a heck of a lot like the barrier in our original proposal in 1998," Sicking said. "It's very similar to what we wound up with. But it took a long time to convince IRL and NASCAR. So many people said steel is not good, and there was significant resistance. We had to prove to ourselves and the racing agencies that polyethylene just won't work.
"There was a eureka moment when they said, 'Go ahead and use steel.'"
Concrete evidence has emerged the right call was made.
This weekend, the barrier is making its debut at Richmond International Raceway for the track's NASCAR tripleheader of Craftsman Truck, Busch and Winston Cup. The system, which sources say cost about $500,000 to install at RIR, is attached to 1,197 feet of the outside wall at both ends of the oval. The 28-foot sections consist of five steel tubes stacked 40½ inches high.
The only part of the barrier that qualifies as mildly pliable would be the 22-inch, pyramid-shaped Styrofoam blocks positioned between the wall and the barrier that crush at 25,000 pounds per square inch.
But virtually every reference made by NASCAR drivers to SAFER includes the word "soft."
"It's in the vernacular, and we understand that's impossible to change," Sicking said. "But I think the industry is coming to the realization that a steel wall in front of a foam system is working well. I have no problem with it being called soft walls. They can call it whatever they want as long as it works and they're happy with it."
Since its implementation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2002, the SAFER barrier has been heralded for mostly flawless results.
The impetus for the project began at Indy in the 1990s with track President Tony George, who wanted his staff to create an energy-absorbing wall. A polymer-based barrier called Polyurethane Energy Dissipation briefly was installed along the inside wall off Turn 4. During an IROC race in August 1998, Arie Luyendyk slammed the PEDS wall. The driver walked away from the heavy impact unharmed, but the crash scattered foam across the asphalt and required a long cleanup.
"The barrier's method of attachment to the wall failed miserably," said Brian Barnhart, the IRL's vice president of operations. "We quickly identified this was above and beyond us, but the concept was a good start."
George and the IRL went hunting for a research center that could build an ideal barrier and commissioned Sicking's group at the University of Nebraska. NASCAR joined the project in 2000.
The early versions of the barrier were made of a polyethylene skin but was torpedoed by its propensity for "pocketing," which involved the barrier catching the car in the wall and sometimes causing more damage.
"We were hopeful we could make polyethylene work, and we tried many variations," Sicking said. "But when we went to steel skin, the system started looking better than concrete right away."
After approximately 20 full-scale crash tests at the Lincoln, Neb., headquarters and 1,500 computer simulations on LS-Dyna, a $25,000 software donated by the Livermore Software Technology Corp., the barrier was ready for installation.
In more than two dozen impacts at Indianapolis involving Indy and stock cars, there have been no major injuries. IRL officials said the G forces, which measures the energy absorbed by car and driver during a crash, have been reduced by as much as 50 percent by the barrier.
"We've had IRL accidents 50 to 70 Gs that historically those same impacts would have been 120 to 150," said Kevin Forbes, the director of engineering at Indianapolis. "There's been a tremendous reduction.
"Every impact has resulted in the drivers walking away. I know if the SAFER barrier hadn't been there, those would have been debilitating injuries and possibly some career-ending."
The barrier will be a welcome addition at RIR, which has delivered heavy hits to several drivers over the past two years. Several modifications have been made that should improve its durability and performance over the successful Indianapolis version. The foam's thickness has been increased, the steel tubes are now 8 inches high instead of 12, and nylon retaining straps have been added that should allow more energy to be absorbed.
The barrier juts out 30 inches from the concrete, which shouldn't affect the racing line around the 0.75-mile oval.
Heavy impacts occasionally produce jagged edges in the steel, but repairs can be completed quickly.
At Indy, the time needed to tweak the barrier never has exceeded the time needed to clean up behind a crash.
"The amazing thing is it's become virtually a nonissue," Barnhart said. "That's a tremendous compliment to its performance. In such a short period of time, it's the industry standard."
Because the barrier must be custom-built depending on a track's banking and length, progress has been gradual. New Hampshire International Speedway will introduce its SAFER walls next week, and Homestead-Miami Speedway will include the barrier in its reconfiguration for November.
But the barrier eventually could become a standard addition to every oval - a soft sell for the drivers who might be saved by steel.
"Every racetrack needs it, there's no doubt about that," Jeff Burton said. "This is the first major thing we've done at racetracks in quite a while. It's significant."
Said Jamie McMurray: "Ten years from now, people are going to look back and say, 'You didn't race with safe walls? What were you thinking?'"
It's a Steel Deal
SAFER barrier's breakthrough came from a switch in material
BY NATE RYAN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
The most difficult aspect of developing one of the most promising safety advances in auto racing involved a rather peculiar paradox: convincing the powers that be in the Indy Racing League and NASCAR that soft walls needed to be steel.
For Dean Sicking, the director of the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility that designed the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction barrier, it was a hard sell.
"There's a sketch that looks a heck of a lot like the barrier in our original proposal in 1998," Sicking said. "It's very similar to what we wound up with. But it took a long time to convince IRL and NASCAR. So many people said steel is not good, and there was significant resistance. We had to prove to ourselves and the racing agencies that polyethylene just won't work.
"There was a eureka moment when they said, 'Go ahead and use steel.'"
Concrete evidence has emerged the right call was made.
This weekend, the barrier is making its debut at Richmond International Raceway for the track's NASCAR tripleheader of Craftsman Truck, Busch and Winston Cup. The system, which sources say cost about $500,000 to install at RIR, is attached to 1,197 feet of the outside wall at both ends of the oval. The 28-foot sections consist of five steel tubes stacked 40½ inches high.
The only part of the barrier that qualifies as mildly pliable would be the 22-inch, pyramid-shaped Styrofoam blocks positioned between the wall and the barrier that crush at 25,000 pounds per square inch.
But virtually every reference made by NASCAR drivers to SAFER includes the word "soft."
"It's in the vernacular, and we understand that's impossible to change," Sicking said. "But I think the industry is coming to the realization that a steel wall in front of a foam system is working well. I have no problem with it being called soft walls. They can call it whatever they want as long as it works and they're happy with it."
Since its implementation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2002, the SAFER barrier has been heralded for mostly flawless results.
The impetus for the project began at Indy in the 1990s with track President Tony George, who wanted his staff to create an energy-absorbing wall. A polymer-based barrier called Polyurethane Energy Dissipation briefly was installed along the inside wall off Turn 4. During an IROC race in August 1998, Arie Luyendyk slammed the PEDS wall. The driver walked away from the heavy impact unharmed, but the crash scattered foam across the asphalt and required a long cleanup.
"The barrier's method of attachment to the wall failed miserably," said Brian Barnhart, the IRL's vice president of operations. "We quickly identified this was above and beyond us, but the concept was a good start."
George and the IRL went hunting for a research center that could build an ideal barrier and commissioned Sicking's group at the University of Nebraska. NASCAR joined the project in 2000.
The early versions of the barrier were made of a polyethylene skin but was torpedoed by its propensity for "pocketing," which involved the barrier catching the car in the wall and sometimes causing more damage.
"We were hopeful we could make polyethylene work, and we tried many variations," Sicking said. "But when we went to steel skin, the system started looking better than concrete right away."
After approximately 20 full-scale crash tests at the Lincoln, Neb., headquarters and 1,500 computer simulations on LS-Dyna, a $25,000 software donated by the Livermore Software Technology Corp., the barrier was ready for installation.
In more than two dozen impacts at Indianapolis involving Indy and stock cars, there have been no major injuries. IRL officials said the G forces, which measures the energy absorbed by car and driver during a crash, have been reduced by as much as 50 percent by the barrier.
"We've had IRL accidents 50 to 70 Gs that historically those same impacts would have been 120 to 150," said Kevin Forbes, the director of engineering at Indianapolis. "There's been a tremendous reduction.
"Every impact has resulted in the drivers walking away. I know if the SAFER barrier hadn't been there, those would have been debilitating injuries and possibly some career-ending."
The barrier will be a welcome addition at RIR, which has delivered heavy hits to several drivers over the past two years. Several modifications have been made that should improve its durability and performance over the successful Indianapolis version. The foam's thickness has been increased, the steel tubes are now 8 inches high instead of 12, and nylon retaining straps have been added that should allow more energy to be absorbed.
The barrier juts out 30 inches from the concrete, which shouldn't affect the racing line around the 0.75-mile oval.
Heavy impacts occasionally produce jagged edges in the steel, but repairs can be completed quickly.
At Indy, the time needed to tweak the barrier never has exceeded the time needed to clean up behind a crash.
"The amazing thing is it's become virtually a nonissue," Barnhart said. "That's a tremendous compliment to its performance. In such a short period of time, it's the industry standard."
Because the barrier must be custom-built depending on a track's banking and length, progress has been gradual. New Hampshire International Speedway will introduce its SAFER walls next week, and Homestead-Miami Speedway will include the barrier in its reconfiguration for November.
But the barrier eventually could become a standard addition to every oval - a soft sell for the drivers who might be saved by steel.
"Every racetrack needs it, there's no doubt about that," Jeff Burton said. "This is the first major thing we've done at racetracks in quite a while. It's significant."
Said Jamie McMurray: "Ten years from now, people are going to look back and say, 'You didn't race with safe walls? What were you thinking?'"
