Structural Crashworthiness Analysis of a Pickup Truck Subjected to Pole Side Impacts

M. Ozan Kocabas, Eren Unsal, Volkan Esat

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Crashworthiness of an automobile body in side impacts depends not only on the chassis geometry and topology, but also on the design and reliability of other structural members such as B-pillar and side panels. Side impacts vary with respect to the crash partner. Barrier side impact tests are used to reconstruct vehicle-to-vehicle collisions, at least one of which is impacted laterally; whereas pole side impact test is employed to investigate an arguably more hazardous condition, where the pole impacted is stationary, possibly causing severe localised damage on the body of the vehicle. This study focuses on investigating the effects of pole side impacts on the crashworthiness of a pickup truck with a ladder frame chassis. Previous research work concentrate on the particular aspects of the structure of the vehicle to improve crash energy absorption characteristics. In this study, a finite element (FE) model is developed utilising a previously generated mesh of a pickup truck. The FE model is employed to simulate pole side crash test scenarios on the whole body of the vehicle. Total strain energies sustained by the vehicle, pole reaction forces, and equivalent von Mises stresses are presented for several proposed design improvements in order to enhance crashworthiness. Computational results yield good agreement with experimental findings.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of UMTIK2014 – 16th International Conference on Machine Design and Production, Izmir, Turkey
Number of pages14
Publication statusPublished - 2014

Keywords

  • Crashworthiness
  • Crash energy
  • Finite element analysis
  • Pole side impact

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