Citation

Wallentowitz H, Adam H. Int. J. Crashworthiness 1996; 1(2): 163-180.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

New materials (high strength steel, aluminium) and new joining methods (spot weld-bonding, clinching, toxing, riveting) are increasingly important in body engineering due to the demands of weight and cost reduction in the automotive industry. At the same time manufacturers and customers demands on passive safety are growing. Thin-walled columns are basic components in the concept and design of automotive body structures. Their crashworthiness behaviour is of fundamental importance in the safety design of the whole vehicle because their plastic collapse is the mechanism that is used to dissipate the kinetic energy of the vehicle in an accident. The mechanism of plastic collapse should be reliable and its evolution during the crash regular so that the desired quantity of absorbed energy, a low load uniformity and the required level of deformation load can be achieved without increasing danger for the vehicle passengers. To predict the characteristic values of automotive front structures energy absorption, e.g. weight specific energy absorption, load uniformity and structural effectiveness, the buckling of thin-walled columns, representing body front side members, were investigated in an experimental study. Geometries used for front side members like closed-hat, double-U and octagonal columns made by conventional steel, high-strength steel and light alloys were joined with different joining methods e.g. spot-welding, press-joining and structural adhesive. The design parameters of the specimen (t/a-ratio, flange width, joining width, material thickness, etc.) were varied in a wide range. Axial and non-axial quasi-static tests and even dynamic tests with different collision speeds were carried out. The results of this experimental based study are useful in the advanced crashworthiness design phase of automotive body structures. A software tool for body engineers, named "PRE-CRASH", will be available soon to predict crashworthiness of the design. Due to that, design time and experimental work during prototype testing can be reduced in near future.

Language: en