Mathematical Modelling and Analysis of Vehicle Frontal Crash using Lumped Parameters Models

A full-scale crash test is conventionally used for vehicle crashworthiness analysis. However, this approach is expensive and time-consuming. Vehicle crash reconstructions using different numerical modelling approaches can predict vehicle behavior and reduce the need for multiple full-scale crash tests, thus research on the crash reconstruction has received a great attention in the last few decades. Among modelling approaches, lumped parameters models (LPM) and finite element models (FEM) are commonly used in the vehicle crash reconstruction. This thesis focuses on developing and improving the LPM for vehicle frontal crash analysis. The study aims at reconstructing crash scenarios for vehicle-to-barrier (VTB), vehicleoccupant (V-Occ), and vehicle-to-vehicle (VTV), respectively. In this study, a single mass-spring-damper (MSD) is used to simulate a vehicle to-barrier or a wall. A double MSD is used to model the response of the chassis and passenger compartment in a frontal crash, a vehicle-occupant, and a vehicle-tovehicle, respectively. A curve fitting, state-space, and genetic algorithm are used to estimate parameters of the model for reconstructing the vehicle crash kinematics. Further, the piecewise LPM is developed to mimic the crash characteristics for VTB, VO, and VTV crash scenarios, and its predictive capability is compared with the explicit FEM. Within the framework, the advantages of the proposed methods are explained in detail, and suggested solutions are presented to address the limitations in the study.publishedVersio

Application of Genetic Algorithm on Parameter Optimization of Three Vehicle Crash Scenarios

This paper focuses on the development of mathematical models for vehicle frontal crashes. The models under consideration are threefold: a vehicle into barrier, vehicle-occupant and vehicle to vehicle frontal crashes. The first model is represented as a simple spring-mass-damper and the second case consists of a double-spring-mass-damper system, whereby the front mass and the rear mass represent the vehicle chassis and the occupant, respectively. The third model consists of a collision of two vehicles represented by two masses moving in opposite directions. The springs and dampers in the models are nonlinear piecewise functions of displacements and velocities respectively. More specifically, a genetic algorithm (GA) approach is proposed for estimating the parameters of vehicles front structure and restraint system for vehicle-occupant model. Finally, using the existing test-data, it is shown that the obtained models can accurately reproduce the real crash test data