Mitsubishi's Advanced Safety Vehicle (ASV) has been developed in conjunction with the ASV project proposed by Japan's Ministry of Transport. Among the various safety technologies incorporated in the Mitsubishi ASV, this paper focuses specifically on the features of the lighter and safer body structure and the associated development process. Mitsubishi ASV has been developed around two fundamental concepts ;​ improvement of the crashworthiness of the front end and the integrity of the passenger compartment. The aim was to achieve both a lighter vehicle weight and improved safety performance.

To improve the energy-absorbing capacity of the front end, hybrid side members composed of steel and carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) were adopted along with a CFRP chassis center member and a CFRP bumper reinforcement beam. The CFRP composition and materials combination were selected on the basis of fundamental component tests. The energy-absorbing performance of the front end structure basis was then confirmed by FEM analysis and in sled crash tests.

An optimization analysis was used to determine the layout of under-floor members to improve the structural integrity of the passenger compartment while minimizing increase in body weight. In addition, the passenger compartment was effectively reinforced by filling the rear portion of the side members with urethane foam selected on the basis of fundamental component tests. The characteristics of the resulting passenger compartment structure were then Confirmed through FEM analyses and static crash tests.

Finally, based on the test results for the front end and passenger compartment members, the full body structure was designed and manufactured and its performance was confirmed in dynamic crash tests.