Structural Interaction between Vehicles. An Investigation of Crash Compatibility between Cars and Heavy Goods Vehicles

While frontal collisions between Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) and passenger cars are rare compared to car-to-car frontal crashes, they are much more severe. Between 43% and 73% of all frontal car-to-truck accidents result in fatalities. The severity is due to crash incompatibility between the vehicles that has been generally agreed to arise from differences in mass, stiffness and geometry and it refers not only to car-to-truck collisions but also to most vehicle-to-vehicle collisions. To address incompatibilities between passenger cars and HGVs, Front Underrun Protective Devices (FUPDs) are obligatory equipment for HGVs produced after August 2003. To date, there is insufficient research describing the efficiency of statutory and energy absorbing (e.a.) FUPDs in real traffic collisions. The aim of the research presented in this thesis is to understand and suggest improvements for the compatibility between trucks and passenger cars through parametric studies of different design and collision configurations where the compatibility between trucks and cars is seen as an indivisible part of overall crash compatibility between vehicles. The focus was the requirements for energy absorbing FUPDs to overcome the unpredictable behaviour of passenger cars in frontal collisions by studying the links between geometry and stiffness as influenced by crash configuration and structural interaction. The bending stiffness of e.a. FUPD cross-beams, their height, and triggering force for energy absorbing elements were found to be important characteristics of e.a. FUPD that influence the outcome in collisions between HGVs and passenger cars. The stable response of vehicle structures was identified as an important issue to understand. A new analysis approach, called the RED method, was developed and presented. Using energy absorption and impact forces calculated in FE simulations, the RED method gives more insight into structural deformation processes than other methods and thereby improves the evaluation of vehicle structures. Information derived from the procedure was used to develop two new assessment criteria - Structural Efficiency and Crash Stability – that can be used to objectively quantify the crash response of vehicles. Because the method is based on FE crash simulations it can be used in the development as well as production phase of a vehicle crash structure or even other structures where deformation modes are important. It was shown that these criteria can be used in compatibility rating where a new perspective on compatibility is introduced and applied

FIMCAR II: Accident Analysis

For the assessment of vehicle safety in frontal collisions compatibility (which consists of self and partner protection) between opponents is crucial. Although compatibility has been analysed worldwide for years, no final assessment approach has been defined to date. Taking into account the European Enhanced Vehicle safety Committee (EEVC) compatibility and frontal impact working group (WG15) and the EC funded FP5 VC-COMPAT project activities, two test approaches have been identified as the most promising candidates for the assessment of compatibility. Both are composed of an off-set and a full overlap test procedure. In addition another procedure (a test with a moving deformable barrier) is getting more attention in today’s research programmes. The overall objective of the FIMCAR project is to complete the development of the candidate test procedures and propose a set of test procedures suitable for regulatory application to assess and control a vehicle’s frontal impact and compatibility crash safety. In addition an associated cost benefit analysis should be performed. The specific objectives of the work reported in this deliverable were: • Determine if previously identified compatibility issues are still relevant in current vehicle fleet o Structural interaction o Frontal force matching o Compartment strength in particular for light cars • Determine nature of injuries and injury mechanisms o Body regions injured o Injury mechanism ▪ Contact with intrusion ▪ Contact ▪ Deceleration / restraint induced The main data sources for this report were the CCIS and Stats 19 databases from Great Britain and the GIDAS database from Germany. The different sampling and reporting schemes for the detailed databases (CCIS & GIDAS) sometimes do not allow for direct comparisons of the results. However the databases are complementary – CCIS captures more severe collisions highlighting structure and injury issues while GIDAS provides detailed data for a broader range of crash severities. The following results represent the critical points for further development of test procedures in FIMCAR

Accidents, injuries and safety priorities for light goods vehicles in Great Britain

This study presents data on light goods vehicle (LGV) crashes. The data are derived from two main sources. The first source involves mass analysis of crashes involving LGVs recorded in the national British STATS19 accident database for 1994 to 2000. The second source involves analysis from an in-depth study of LGV accidents in Britain since the late 1980s. In total, in-depth data on almost 500 LGV crashes are considered. Three main issues are apparent. Firstly, there is an issue of crash compatibility between LGVs and passenger cars. The second issue involves restraint use among LGV occupants, since the in-depth data reveal that use is low compared with car occupants. The third issue is the implications of introducing a regulatory compliance crash test for LGVs

Sipping Fuel and Saving Lives: Increasing Fuel Economy without Sacrificing Safety

Demonstrates how new fuel-efficiency technologies make it possible, and advisable, to significantly increase the fuel economy of motor vehicles without compromising their safety

Optimizing Vehicle Structure Architectures for Light Trucks

Electric Vehicles (EVs) have experienced an incredible fast evolution. In the last few years almost every car manufacturer has presented its own EV prototype or fully functional vehicle and developing dedicated vehicles instead of the classical "General Purpose" concept is becoming more common. Most Electric Light Trucks existing already in the market still adopt the classic powertrain lay-out used in thermal engine vehicles. The EC co-funded OPTIBODY project is developing new modular structure architecture for a European L7e category vehicle focused on safety improvement and exploring the capabilities of modularity applied to safety and reparability. The OPTIBODY vehicle has been designed using a modular structure architecture composed of a chassis, a cabin and several add-ons. The cabin will provide improved levels of comfort, protection and ergonomics to the user and the addons will provide protection in case of frontal, side and rear impact, including also crash compatibility and interaction with vulnerable road users. Europe, U.S.A., Canada, Japan and Australia were targeted for the initial analysis of the electric light vehicle worldwide situation to achieve the objectives of the project. The current light trucks fleet, accidentology and the requirements to be fulfilled by the vehicles were analyzed in the previous regions. The chassis, the cabin and the materials and a modular concept to improve self and partner protection safety. The thermal engine has been removed and substituted by electrical inwheels engines, and the extra space has been use to improve frontal impact and vulnerable road users protection. The requirements for certification of both L7e and low-speed vehicle categories in Europe and North America are very low in terms of safety and there is no mandatory crash test to evaluate neither pedestrian protection nor impact performance. OPTIBODY project has proposed frontal, side, rear and pedestrian impact tests and they have been use as targets to design the OPTIBODY vehicle to improve self and partner protection. Frontal crash test simulations showed an improvement in the cabin integrity and self and partner protection, as well as an improved pedestrian protection due to the extra space available, the use of new materials and the design of the add-on. The OPTIBODY vehicle adhered to the US commitment of Part 581 Zone, improving the crash compatibility of the vehicle. The use of modular architectures and new materials also improved the reparability of the vehicle. The OPTIBODY project is developing a new modular architecture for L7e vehicles that will provide an improvement in self and partner protection and reparability. Modularity has been only considered in this vehicle category and its applicability to other categories should be considered. L7e vehicles in Europe and low speed vehicles in the US have very poor safety requirements for certification. The OPTIBODY project is a good opportunity so show a great improvement in self and partner protection for L7e vehicles and also to explore how electric vehicles can improve the current levels of safety and the benefits of applying modularity to safety and reparability field

Compatibility of Vehicles in a Frontal Collision

Práce jako celek pojednává o kompatibilitě vozidel při čelním střetu. V první části je rozebrána kompatibilita z různých úhlů pohledu. Jsou zde uvedeny fyzikální procesy používané při mechanice čelního nárazu. Druhá část je zaměřena na řešení kompatibility vozidel při čelním nárazu pomocí crash analýzy řešené metodou konečných prvků. Jednak jsou zde popsány nárazy vozidel různých vozidlových tříd (malé automobily, nižší střední třída, Pick up/SUV) do pevné bariéry podle US NCAP. Dále je zde simulován čelní střet vozidel těchto vozidlových tříd. V závěru jsou ukázány možnosti využití dat z cash testů ke stanovení EES.Thesis deals with the compatibility of vehicles in a frontal collision. The first section discusses about compatibility from different views. There are the physical processes used in the mechanics of impact. The second part is focused on solving the compatibility of vehicles in a frontal collision by crash analysis using the finite element method. Firstly there are described collisions of vehicles from different vehicle classes (small cars, lower middle class, Pick up / SUV) into the fixed barrier by the US NCAP. Furthermore there are simulated head-on collisions of vehicles from different vehicle classes. In the end there is shown the possibility of using data from crash tests to determine the EES.

The Safety Risks of Proposed Fuel Economy Legislation

Based on, e.g., a comprehensive assessment of what is known of factors influencing automobile safety, previous industry responses to requirements for fuel economy and prior success of regulators in reducing injuries, Professor Graham concludes that pending fuel economy bills are apt to add 1650 fatalities and 8500 serious accidents to the annual highway toll. He also presents several short-term and long-term strategies for simultaneously saving fuel and lives