Optimization of a temporary road traffic steel barrier using explicit finite element method and laboratory testing

•Paper describes a methodology that was successfully applied for the development of a temporary road traffic steel barrier in compliance with T1/W1 level according to EN 1317;•A simplified theoretical analysis of 178 barrier, laboratory test of three types of barrier connectors (for two types of barrier), explicit FEM modeling of four chosen barrier, and a full-scale crash test for final barrier are presented;•The stiffness of barrier connector was established based by laboratory barrier test (the FEM model was validated based on laboratory tests);•The chosen final barrier alternative passed the crash test for T1/W1 (TB21) containment level, performed by certified laboratory [35], which proves that the presented procedure could be used successfully for traffic barrier development.