A cable-supported frontal car structure for offset crash situations

Witteman, W. J.; Kriens, R. F. C.

Affiliations

¹Eindhoven University of Technology, Laboratory for Automotive Engineering, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Abstract

The improved frontal crashworthiness of cars necessitates totally new design concepts, which take into account that the majority of collisions occur with partial frontal overlap and under off-axis load directions. Realistic crash tests with partial overlap have shown that conventional longitudinal structures are not capable of absorbing all the energy in the car front without deforming the passenger compartment. The reason for this is that the structure of the longitudinal members is specifically designed for meeting the more relaxed requirements of the compulsory full overlap test, in which both longitudinals are loaded axially.

Increased protection for the entire collision spectrum can be obtained by a frontal structure consisting of two special longitudinal members, which combine a higher bending resistance without increasing the axial stiffness. In addition the longitudinal members are supported by a cable connection system for symmetric force distribution. lf only one of the longitudinal members is loaded during a partial overlap crash, the cable connection system will force the other longitudinal member to crumple as well. This results in normal programmed energy absorption. With this revolutionary concept it is possible to design a frontal car structure with the same stiffness for all overlap percentages and impact angles, resulting in an optimal crash pulse. The influence of various crash situations on the amount of energy absorbed by this system will be demonstrated by means of simulations and analyses.

Cited Works (1)

Year	Entry
1994	Witteman WJ, Kriens RFC. Requirements for optimized crashworthiness design of the longitudinal members. In: Proceedings of the 14th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 23-26, 1994; Munich, Germany.1481-1488.

Cited By (4)

Year	Entry
1998	Witteman WJ, Kriens RFC. Modeling of an innovative frontal car structure: similar deceleration curves at full overlap, 40 per cent offset and 30 degrees collisions. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 31–June 4, 1998; Windsor, Ontario, Canada.194-212.
1998	Giess M, Tomas J. Improving safety performance in frontal collisions by changing the shape of structural components. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 31–June 4, 1998; Windsor, Ontario, Canada.222-228.
2003	Jawad SA. Protecting small cars and mitigating severe crashes: smart structure solution. In: Proceedings of the 18th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 19-22, 2003; Nagoya, Japan.
2005	Witteman W. Adaptive frontal structure design to achieve optimal deceleration pulses. In: Proceedings of the 19th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 6-9, 2005; Washington, DC.