Assessing the Crashworthiness Analysis on Frontal and Corner Impacts of Vehicle on Street Poles Using FEA

Abstract

The impact analysis of vehicle collision on street poles was investigated, as well as an assessment of which type of impact—frontal or corner—contributes to the most damages on both the car and the streetlamp. This work was accomplished using Abaqus/Explicit software to numerically simulate the crashes at three different velocities, 12, 17, and 22 m·s−1, and extract relations such as the energy models, the specific energy absorption (SEA) of the materials tested, and the impact forces. Two materials were used for the street pole: aluminum Al-6061 and ASTM A36 grade steel. Findings such as the influence of the SEA on the vehicle’s velocity, the relationship between the deformation of the street pole and the vehicle’s velocity, as well as the improvement of previously studied models by including damage parameters are presented.