HVE EDSMAC4 Trailer Model Simulation Comparison with Crash Test Data 2000-01-0468

Engineering Dynamics Corporation (EDC) recently updated the Human, Vehicle, Environment (HVE) software program to enable modeling of passenger cars and light trucks towing trailers. This paper reports on a comparison between the HVE EDSMAC4 collision module of the 3-dimensional computer simulation program and instrumented crash tests, in which one vehicle in each test was a pickup truck pulling a trailer. Use of the EDSMAC4 trailer model was found to provide better correlation between the simulation and test damage profiles, rest positions, vehicle trajectories, velocities, and Delta-V. It was also determined that the NHTSA-derived stiffness coefficients are sensitive to the impact configuration and depending on the impact configuration, it may be necessary to refine the coefficients according to the configuration.