An Analysis of Trends of Vehicle Frontal Impact Stiffness 940914
Impact induced vehicle residual deformation serves as a basis for the reconstruction engineer to make a determination of the energy absorbed during the impact phase of a collision. Many impact phase reconstruction algorithms assume a linear relation between an absorbed energy function and residual crush in order to derive collision severity (Delta V, BEV, etc.). This is done through the assumption of a constant spring stiffness value to describe the vehicle frontal impact stiffness. However, some recent rigid barrier impact test data has demonstrated non-linear trends between crash energy and residual crush. The total body of available crash test data indicates that vehicle frontal stiffness cannot be precisely modeled through the use of a single linear spring stiffness for all vehicles. This paper will explore stiffness trends and make comparisons to the previously assigned linear assumption for a diverse sample of vehicles and test speeds into frontal fixed barriers. The available crash test data is plotted and analyzed and the resulting linear and non-linear trends are discussed. Applications to the accident reconstruction field are also explored.
Citation: Varat, M., Husher, S., and Kerkhoff, J., "An Analysis of Trends of Vehicle Frontal Impact Stiffness," SAE Technical Paper 940914, 1994, https://doi.org/10.4271/940914. Download Citation
Author(s):
Michael S. Varat, Stein E. Husher, John F. Kerkhoff
Pages: 28
Event:
International Congress & Exposition
ISSN:
0148-7191
e-ISSN:
2688-3627
Also in:
Accident Reconstruction: Technology and Animation Iv-SP-1030, Crash Reconstruction Research-PT-138
Related Topics:
Impact tests
Accident reconstruction
Springs
Mathematical models
Crashes
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