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Full scale testing of a vehicle to assess its side impact crashworthiness is often difficult since it requires the use of sleds or moving barriers to simulate the impact. This work describes a method developed in which the vehicle is dropped sideways from any given height onto any type of object in order to simulate a side impact. Results indicate that the drop test methodology is acceptable for determining if an automobile provides adequate crush resistance and whether or not if protruding objects will injure the occupants of the vehicle. Energy analysis of the drop side impact revealed that the weight of the car increased the work done by crushing by about 16%. By varying test parameters, such as drop height, impact angle and barrier type, different real world conditions can be effectively simulated.

The objective of the research described in this paper was to develop a reliable method to evaluate the residual stress existing in an axisymmetric body from measurements of the post-grinding deformation. The developed method is based on finite element analysis and utilizes the concept of influence coefficients. What makes the method attractive is that it does not require fine division of the body into finite elements, and that it utilizes rather limited information on the post-grinding deformation. For example, quite accurate results can be obtained from measuring changes in diameter for five different cross sections of a cylinder. The developed method was tested by Monte Carlo simulation. The residual stress, the post-grinding deformation and the measurements were all generated and simulated by a computer. The paper provides a detailed description of the method and lists practical hints on how to avoid pitfalls in developing similar procedures.