TOWARDS THE UNDERSTANDING OF MATERIAL PROPERTY INFLUENCE ON AUTOMOTIVE CRASH STRUCTURES

Developing general crashworthiness guidelines for the design engineer is a complex task. This study begins to show that large parameter stud ies using actual vehicle models may prove fruitful in this endeavor. F or the midrail component and the vehicle side structure studied, an in itial generalized guideline developed is as follows: for a specific st ress, a 10% change in thickness results in a 14% change in energy abso rption for a specific thickness, a 10% change in stress results in a 7 % change in energy absorption. These results are relative to baseline models, and are limited to the practical range of thickness and stress of actual vehicle components. Although the analyst must strive for pr ecise solutions, the benefit of generalizing behavior for the design e ngineer must also be recognized.