• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.555-564
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• 2006

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the efficient design of traffic light poles involved in vehicle frontal collisions by developing a computer-based, finite-element model capable of capturing the impact characteristics. This is achieved by using the available non-linear dynamic analysis software "LS-DYNA3D", which can accurately predict the dynamic response of both the vehicle and the traffic light pole. The fiber reinforced polymer(FRP) as a new pole's material is proposed in this paper to increase energy absorption capabilities in the case of a traffic pole involved in a vehicle head-on collision. Numerical analyses are conducted to evaluate the effects of key parameters on the response of the pole embedded in soil when impacted by vehicles, including: soil type(clay and sand) and pole material type(FRP and steel). It is demonstrated from the numerical analysis that the FRP pole-soil system has favorable advantages over steel poles, where the FRP pole absorbed vehicle impact energy in a smoother behavior, which leads to smoother acceleration pulse and less deformation of the vehicle than those encountered with steel poles. Also, it was observed that clayey soil brings a slightly more resistance than sandy soil which helps reducing pole movement at ground level. Finally, FRP pole system provides more energy absorbing leading to protection during minor impacts and under service loading, and remain flexible enough to avoid influencing vehicle occupants, thus reducing fatalities and injuries resulting from the crash.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.219-226
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• 2022

The seismic responses of traffic light poles are investigated using a finite element analysis. Among the traffic light poles, single- and bi-directional traffic light poles are considered since such poles are frequently installed on vehicle roads. For a more detailed investigation, three different lengths of the mast arm are considered for each directional pole. For a time-history analysis, six actual and two artificial earthquakes are considered and applied to each direction of the poles (x and y) to investigate which direction input provides more significant responses due to the unsymmetrical structural shape. Herein, the x and y directions are respectively parallel and perpendicular based on the single mast pole case. From the analysis results, the average maximum displacement response is developed with the x-direction input case for both types of light poles. Also, the bi-directional traffic light poles show a 13% larger response than the single-directional traffic light poles. Even though the y-direction input case produces a smaller response, the response difference between the single- and bi-directional light poles considerably increases by about 60%. The average maximum acceleration responses are almost similar for both types of light poles.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.125-131
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• 2012

PURPOSES : Road lighting facilities increase the visibility of road at night in order to improve traffic driver safety and comfort. Generally speaking, current pole lighting has a tendency to create problems of glare and flicker. The phenomenon of glare gives discomfort due to increase of scattered light, when high luminance is in driver's field of view. The phenomenon of flicker occurs due to the driver passing through discontinuous pockets of pole lighting areas. These phenomenon increase eye strain and decrease driver safety. METHODS : Low height line lighting that distributes light lower than driver's eye level has been developed and evaluated to reduce the problems linked to current pole lighting. A test was undertaken with 4 conditions(turn on the general pole lighting, turn off alternate pole lighting, turn on the line lighting and line lighting with 50% dimming). A driver written survey was conducted in order to gain driver feedback. RESULTS : Pupil size and brow frequency compared with degree in pole lighting are reduced. CONCLUSIONS : Low height line lighting environment makes drivers more comfortable than pole lighting environment and is positive lighting method in the energy saving and landscape aspect.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.237-244
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• 2023

This study analyzes the seismic response of traffic light poles, considering soil-foundation effects through nonlinear static and time history analyses. Two poles are investigated, uni-directional and bi-directional, each with 9 m mast arms. Finite element models incorporate the poles, soil, and concrete foundations for analysis. Results show that the initial stiffness of the traffic light poles decreases by approximately 38% due to soil effects, and the drift ratio at which their nonlinear behavior occurs is 77% of scenarios without considering soil effects. The maximum acceleration response increases by about 82% for uni-directional poles and 73% for bi-directional poles, while displacement response increases by approximately 10% for uni-directional and 16% for bi-directional poles when considering soil-foundation effects. Additionally, increasing ground motion intensity reduces soil restraints, making significant rotational displacement the dominant response mechanism over flexural displacement for the traffic light poles. These findings underscore the importance of considering soil-foundation interactions in analyzing the seismic behavior of traffic light poles and provide valuable insights to enhance their seismic resilience and safety.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.5334-5337
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• 2013

In this paper, the structure of traffic lights removed the wire for the completion of urban aesthetics is analyzed. The finite element model consists of shell elements from three-dimensional CAD model of actual traffic signal. Traffic light pole, horizontal stand shape, thickness, stiffeners, etc. are considered in this study. Analysis of stress and deformation is performed by applying wind load. When the wind load is applied, the result on traffic signal is analyzed. This study is to perform the basic tasks for improving the design.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.181-194
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• 2014

A major problem with high-mast light poles is the effects that wind vortex shedding can have on the pole itself because of the lock-in phenomenon. It is desired that the coefficients in the AASHTO Standard Specifications ($5^{th}$ edition) for Structural Supports for Highway Signs, Luminaries, and Traffic Signals be analyzed and refined. This is for the belief that the span of the shapes of poles for which the coefficients are used is much too broad and a specific coefficient for each different shape is desired. The primary objective of this study is to develop wind vortex shedding coefficient for a multisided shape. To do that, an octagonal shape was used as the main focus since octagonal cross sectioned high-mast light poles are one of the most common shapes in service. For the needed data, many wind parameters, such as the static drag coefficient, the slope of aerodynamic lift coefficient, Strouhal number, the lock-in range of wind velocities producing vibrations, and variation of amplitude of vortex-induced vibration with Scruton number are needed. From wind tunnel experiments, aerodynamic parameters were obtained for an octagonal shape structure. Even though aerodynamic coefficients are known from past test results, they need to be refined by conducting further wind tunnel tests.

• Journal of Auto-vehicle Safety Association
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.24-30
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• 2017

This paper presents the development of laser scanner based static obstacle detection algorithm for vehicle localization on lane lost section. On urban autonomous driving, vehicle localization is based on lane information, GPS and digital map is required to ensure. However, in actual urban roads, the lane data may not come in due to traffic jams, intersections, weather conditions, faint lanes and so on. For lane lost section, lane based localization is limited or impossible. The proposed algorithm is designed to determine the lane existence by using reliability of front vision data and can be utilized on lane lost section. For the localization, the laser scanner is used to distinguish the static object through estimation and fusion process based on the speed information on radar data. Then, the laser scanner data are clustered to determine if the object is a static obstacle such as a fence, pole, curb and traffic light. The road boundary is extracted and localization is performed to determine the location of the ego vehicle by comparing with digital map by detection algorithm. It is shown that the localization using the proposed algorithm can contribute effectively to safe autonomous driving.