Search Results

Application of advanced technology such as tailored blanks, tailored tubes, sheet and tube hydroforming, and extensive laser welding, along with advanced high strength steels and innovative design enabled the ULSAB-AVC (Advanced Vehicle Concepts) Program to achieve outstanding levels of safety, affordability, fuel efficiency and environmental responsibility. This paper describes the advanced technology features of ULSAB-AVC including their design considerations, manufacturing feasibility, and cost impact analysis. The ULSAB-AVC Program is the most recent addition to the global steel industry's series of steel design initiatives. These programs offer steel solutions to the challenges facing automakers around the world today: to increase the fuel efficiency while improving safety, performance and maintaining affordability.

The ULSAB-Advanced Vehicle Concepts (AVC) project presents a holistic approach to the development of a new advanced steel automotive vehicle architecture based on a 2000 lbs curb-weight vehicle. These advanced concepts will help automakers use the new steels more efficiently and provide a structural platform for achieving the following benefits: Safety Affordability Fuel Efficiency Environmentally friendly. The scope of the project encompasses the body-in-white structure, closures, suspensions, engine cradle, and all structural and safety relevant components. Porsche Engineering Services, Inc. (PES) conducted a comprehensive benchmarking of existing vehicle concepts and an investigation of trends in vehicle development. PES and the ULSAB-AVC Consortium established targets with reference to the U.S. PNGV (Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles), EUCAR (The European CO2 reduction program) projects, and anticipated future IIHS and NHTSA safety requirements.

The goal of ULSAB-Advanced Vehicle Concepts (AVC) is to develop a platform with the highest number of shared parts possible between two vehicle classes -European C-Class and the North American PNGV-Class concepts. Aggressive targets for mass and safety are considered --all the while maintaining affordable cost and achieving safety goals anticipated for 2004 and beyond. The objective of the CAE analysis of crashworthiness for ULSAB-AVC is to analyze and optimize the vehicle structure to provide the opportunity for development of complete vehicles that will obtain excellent star ratings. This paper will discuss crash safety and crash energy management aspects of the ULSAB-AVC, including important considerations for selecting advanced high-strength steels for crashworthiness applications, body-in-white design and materials selection procedures, BIW concept design and major load paths, and performance against crashworthiness targets.

In this paper the general requirements for a passenger-car side door made of FRP are presented as well as a description of different concepts for self supporting monocoque FRP-doors. For one conceptual design static and dynamic analyses have been made to investigate more detailed the potential of composites in this application. The results of the structural analyses, which have been investigated by commercial FEA-codes, are presented. The research data resulting from completed testing of components are compared with the simulation results. On the basis of this research a prospect for the application of FRP in the field of side impact protection is given.

Car side doors are one of the most complex parts of the body, because this component has to meet a lot of requirements. Independent of the material - steel, aluminum, magnesium, or fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) - there are multiple important requirements. In this paper, testing methodologies for self-supporting car side doors made from FRP are presented based on different conceptual design studies using these innovative materials. These doors and related testing methodologies have been developed in joint research and pre/advanced-development projects with different partners, car manufacturers as well as suppliers. The importance and benefit of benchmarks, advanced experimental material analysis, substructure and full-size component testing in the product development process is discussed. Furthermore important links to the CAE-process are referred and the significant value on the whole development process is demonstrated.

The excellent energy absorption characteristics of composite materials in vehicle structures during vehicle collision are well known for a couple of years. For a long time period, the lack of experiences in the prediction of the crashworthiness of composites, has been a major problem for the application of these materials in automotive crash structures. In this paper, the current progress in the prediction of the crashworthiness of automotive composite crash structures is presented. Progress is realized by simultaneous research work in both, theoretical modeling of these structures with Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and experimental investigation.