Crashworthiness design issues for lightweight vehicles

Abstract

Abstract: The present chapter highlights considerations in vehicle crash safety design using lightweight materials when compared with conventional steel. Key concepts are first introduced in terms of general requirements of structural crashworthiness and occupant safety. Insight is provided into how steel can be substituted with aluminum as the material for a structural component at a substantial weight reduction without compromising functionality. Crashworthiness evaluation requires consideration of a full vehicle body assembly, and CAE (computer-aided engineering) is an indispensable tool for assessing and guiding design. Thus, salient features in the front impact safety design of an aluminum spaceframe vehicle are shown using LS-DYNA, a commercial finite element-based explicit nonlinear dynamic analysis package. A number of other relevant lightweight materials and design solutions for impact energy absorption are discussed.