{"id":23,"date":"2023-10-02T17:42:42","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T17:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2023\/?p=23"},"modified":"2023-10-31T16:54:10","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T16:54:10","slug":"vehicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2023\/vehicles\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting military bases from EV threats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Electric vehicles are good for the environment, but the nation\u2019s infrastructure wasn\u2019t built with them in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barriers on U.S. military bases designed to foil gas-fueled vehicles intent on harm may need to adapt to withstand threats from EVs.<\/p>\n\n\n

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From left: Ronald Faller, Joshua Steelman and Cody Stolle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

To help develop next-generation protection, the U.S. Army turned to Nebraska\u2019s Midwest Roadside Safety Facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEVs are a different kind of an animal compared to gasoline vehicles,\u201d said Cody Stolle, the facility\u2019s assistant director. EVs weigh up to 50% more, have a lower center of gravity and can accelerate much faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These differences alter the forces acting on a barrier. It\u2019s much like striking a nail with a sledgehammer instead of a hammer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A cable system for highway medians at the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Husker researchers will use sophisticated computer modeling and simulations as well as real-life crash tests to understand the forces and other dynamics of high-speed, ramming EVs. The goal is to design barriers capable of blocking EVs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nebraska\u2019s facility is one of few globally that can safely perform crash tests at the speeds and forces required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its unique expertise stems from longstanding research developing race car barriers to protect drivers and spectators. The Husker-developed Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) Barrier System has been adopted by nearly all IndyCar and NASCAR racetracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, its Midwest Guardrail System has become the standard across highways in the U.S., Asia, Africa and Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This track record and its crash testing capabilities make Nebraska uniquely qualified to help the military safeguard bases with advanced barrier systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research will apply to redesigning highway barriers as the nation adapts its infrastructure to accommodate growing numbers of EVs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNebraska is a worldwide leader<\/span> in the design and evaluation <\/span>of safety features <\/span>as well as serving as <\/span>a connecting hub <\/span>to maximize all forms <\/span>of transportation safety,\u201d <\/span>said Stolle<\/span>, research assistant professor <\/span>of mechanical and materials engineering.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nebraska is collaborating with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center and Auburn University, which is studying threats posed by EV drivers. ERDC funds this four-year, $3.6 million project, of which Nebraska received $2.2 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gallery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A barrier system for highway medians to stop semi tankers from flipping over the median into oncoming traffic. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Technician Christopher Charroin connects monitor cables that will be used to record data from a test of a sled that will be pulled at high speed. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Connecting monitor cables<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A cable system for highway medians developed by the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Concrete is poured into a barrier being tested at the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility for the State of Hawaii. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Electric vehicles are good for the environment, but the nation\u2019s infrastructure wasn\u2019t built with them in mind. Barriers on U.S. military bases designed to foil gas-fueled vehicles intent on harm may need to adapt to withstand threats from EVs. To help develop next-generation protection, the U.S. Army turned to Nebraska\u2019s Midwest Roadside Safety Facility. \u201cEVs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[174,181,180,179,178,175,177,176],"class_list":["post-23","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlights","tag-cody-stolle","tag-crash-testing","tag-defense","tag-electric-vehicles","tag-joshua-steelman","tag-midwest-roadside-safety-facility","tag-ronald-faller","tag-u-s-army-engineer-research-and-development-center"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":633,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions\/633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}