Virtual Validation of Gear Shifting Lever Assembly by Impact Simulation and Correlation with Testing 2022-28-0375

Government’s focus on road safety requirements is resulting in faster adoption of stringent automobile safety regulations in India. In addition, due to changing customer preference, automobile companies are also working to provide safer vehicles in the market. Due to the complexity and high cost of the vehicle safety testing, more focus is given to development of CAE simulation technologies to validate the design for meeting regulatory norms, reducing design cycle time and number of physical tests.

Safety requirement in vehicle safety regulations is to minimize the impact transfer to the occupants in case of vehicle crash. During vehicle crash condition, there is possibility that driver head may hit the gear shift lever assembly (GSLA) knob as it falls in the hitting area with respect to driver seat reference point (SRP). There is a regulatory requirement for the maximum acceleration level that is to be experienced by the driver during impact to prevent serious head injury. Current practice is to validate the regularity requirement by testing the actual part. In case of non-conformance, design cycle is repeated with countermeasures to achieve the conformity to the standard requirement. To avoid repeat trials, a CAE simulation process is developed for pre-validation of design before performing actual physical test.

CAE simulation process is developed by correlating simulation and testing results for two different designs. Impact analysis is carried using RADIOSS software under explicit simulation conditions. Finite element model used in simulation replicates actual assembly and set-up conditions as that of testing. Detailed modelling is done for plastic and rubber components. Impact loads and boundary conditions are derived from the testing standards. Results achieved in simulation are in close correlation with the testing results in terms of trend and peak acceleration level.

This paper will present the methodology of virtual validation of GSLA knob head impact test requirements. Developed simulation process can be used for the design optimization studies in design stage itself before physical testing of final design.