Citation

Gupta S. Proc. Int. Tech. Conf. Enhanced Safety Vehicles 2003; 2003: 5 p..

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, In public domain, Publisher National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper follows the process of development of a front frame rail sub-assembly design structure to improve energy absorption in a front offset impact. Static crush analysis using LS-DYNA was conducted for this evaluation. The front section of the white body was crushed to determine the initial performance of the frame rail in the area located near the lower dashboard and front floor. The mode of the frame rail deformation in an impact was determined to be the cause of the weak performance of the initial structure. The critical parts of the frame rail were studied and several design ideas were proposed. A final structure evolved after evaluating multiple designs using CAE analyses. The new design structure improved the mode of deformation of the frame rail reducing the lower dashboard intrusion while absorbing more energy and was considered to be acceptable for improved offset performance of the vehicle.