Steel Processing Properties and Their Effect on Impact Deformation of Lightweight Structures

The objective of the research was to perform a comprehensive computational analysis of the effects of material and process modeling approaches on performance of UltraLight Steel Auto Body (ULSAB) vehicle models. The research addressed numerous material related effects, impact conditions as well as analyzed the performance of the ULSAB vehicles in crashes against designs representing the current US vehicle fleet. This report is organized into three main sections. The first section describes the results of the computational analysis of ULSAB crash simulations that were performed using advanced material modeling techniques. The effects of strain-rate sensitivity on a high strength steel (HSS) intensive vehicle were analyzed. Frontal and frontal offset crash scenarios were used in a finite element parametric study of the ULSAB body structure. Comparisons are made between the crash results using the piece-wise-linear isotropic plasticity strain-rate dependent material model, and the isotropic plasticity material model based on quasi-static properties. The simulation results show the importance of advanced material modeling techniques for vehicle crash simulations due to strain-rate sensitivity and rapid hardening characteristics of advanced high strength steels. Material substitution was investigated for the main frontal crush structure using the material of similar yield stress a significantly different strain-rate and hardening characteristics. The objective of the research presented in Section 2 was to assess the influence of stamping process on crash response of ULSAB vehicle. Considered forming effects included thickness variations and plastic strain hardening imparted in the part forming process. The as-formed thickness and plastic strain for front crash parts were used as input data for vehicle crash analysis. Differences in structural performance between crash models with and without forming data were analyzed in order to determine the effects and feasibility of integration of forming processes and crash models. Computational analysis of vehicle-to-vehicle crashes between ULSAB and conventional car designs is reported in Section 3. The study involved vehicles of comparable weights and dimensions to assess the compatibility of the ULSAB with existing designs. Deformation and acceleration data for crashed vehicles were analyzed. Vehicle-modeling approaches have strong influence on computational results and the requirements for compatibility of models were identified for future research on vehicle-to-vehicle crash modeling