A methodology for crash investigation of motorcycle-cars collisions combining accident reconstruction, finite elements, and experimental tests

Abstract

Motorcycle and in general motorized 2–3 wheelers accidents are a major concern of road safety worldwide representing about 28% of the overall fatalities. Speed is a central factor in the increase of injury severity of the accident’s intervenients. The main factors and causes of an accident can be determined with accident reconstruction being the reason for its popularity in accident safety research. A methodology of three different and complementary accident reconstruction methods is proposed and applied to a real accident where a motorcycle impacts the front side door of a passenger car. No other study in the literature presents a similar methodology for motorcycle accident reconstruction. With PC-Crash all accident dynamics were determined in the first place with a complete accident reconstruction. Afterwards, a finite element simulation of the impact between the motorcycle tire and the car’s door was conducted in Ansys LS-DYNA using all the results extracted from PC-Crash. The results of both these analyses correlated well with reality. To validate the finite element model, a pendulum experimental impact test was performed. It was achieved a good correlation from a kinematic point of view. An accurate accident reconstruction and a correct validation of the kinematics are possible with the proposed methodology. A good correlation of results between the three different methods was achieved. The proposed methodology enables for a more accurate estimation of the speed of motorcycles involved in accidents which is of extreme importance in accident investigation.