SAFER barrier

The Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barrier, sometimes called a soft wall, is a technology found primarily on oval automobile race tracks and intended to make racing accidents safer. It was designed by a team of engineers led by Dean Sicking at the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The SAFER barrier consists of structural steel tubes welded together. Behind these tubes are bundles of closed-cell polystyrene foam, placed between the barrier and the concrete wall.

The theory behind the design is that the barrier absorbs a portion of the kinetic energy released when a race car makes contact with the wall. This energy is dissipated along a longer portion of the wall, instead of propelling the car back into traffic on the track.

An additional benefit of the SAFER barrier is that it reduces damage to the car itself, thereby reducing repair costs.

The SAFER system was developed by engineers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln starting in 1998, sponsored by the Indy Racing League. It was first installed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2002, in time for the Indianapolis 500 and first "tested" by Robby McGehee in a crash during the first day of practice. In 2006, Iowa Speedway became the first racetrack to install a SAFER barrier that extends around the outer circumference of the track, rather than retrofit one to a concrete wall in the turns. Most oval speedways more than a mile in length in the United States have since installed the system. Every oval facility that hosts an IRL IndyCar Series or NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event includes the SAFER barrier.

Other Forms of "Soft Walls"

* Cellofoam — This is an encapsulated polystyrene barrier—a block of plastic foam encased in polyethylene.
* Polyethylene Energy Dissipation System (PEDS) — This system uses small polyethylene cylinders inserted inside larger ones. Designers of PEDS believe the system increases the wall's ability to withstand crashes of heavy race cars.
* Impact Protection System (IPS) — This inner piece of the wall is then wrapped in a rubber casing. Holes are drilled in the concrete wall and cables are used to tie the segments to it.
* Compression barriers — This idea is to place cushioning materials, such as tires, water barrels, or sand barrels, against the concrete wall, and then cover those cushions with a smooth surface that would give when impacted, and then pop back out to its previous shape once the impact is over.

External links

* [http://mwrsf.unl.edu/ Midwest Roadside Safety Facility - designers of the SAFER Barrier]
* [http://www.indycar.com/tech/safer.php IndyCar.com - The official site of the IRL]