Aleksandra Krusper

Further development of the RED method to vehicle structural performance: assessment of crash compatibility

An objective method for measuring compatibility is a prerequisite for improving crash performance and to further advance occupant safety in car–to–car collisions, but no suitable procedure has been developed to date. To date, based on car–to–car crashes, it is possible to conclude which pairs of cars are compatible, but it is not possible to quantify and compare the compatibility of one pair of cars to another. This study presents a further development of the Relative Equivalent Energy Displacement (RED) method to assess vehicle crash compatibility. The compatibility rating quantifies how the crash response of a car in barrier test differs from its crash response in a corresponding car–to–car crash configuration with another car assessed in a same test. It was shown that the method can be used even in the development phase of a vehicle crash structure.

Truck frontal underride protection - compatibility factors influencing passenger car safety

Frontal collisions between passenger cars and trucks are the severest vehicle-to-vehicle collisions observed in accident statistics. Regulation 93 was developed to reduce the risk of fatal injury by preventing passenger cars from underriding heavy truck structures. The regulation does not fully address the higher energy of content in these collisions where passenger car structures cannot be expected to have sufficient energy-absorbing capacity. The performance of a front underrun protective device (FUPD) incorporated into a finite element truck model was evaluated and compared with earlier studies by the authors. In particular, structural interaction of the car with the truck structures was investigated. The packing of the FUPD and truck structures was a critical factor for the FUPD performance. It was found that when the vertical offset between the FUPD and truck frame rails is too small, the efficiency of the FUPD is decreased. Incorporating deformable truck frame elements is only beneficial if the offset is at least 220 mm.