Assessment of the vehicle body side stiffness influence on the process of hazard generating in front-to-side vehicles’ collision

Abstract

A vehicles’ collision is a complex energy process, determined by many factors. In the front-to-side collision, the hazards for he occupants of the struck vehicle results from the inertial loads they are subjected to together with the vehicle and from excessive deformation of the bodywork, often involving the space occupied by people. Action is needed to reduce this hazard. One of such actions is to increase the stiffness of the side part of the vehicle body in order to limit the range of its deformation. However, this is an activity that requires a compromise approach, because as stiffness increases, greater lateral forces on the struck vehicle will occur, which will result in inertial loads. The aim of the study is to assess the impact of changes in the stiffness of the side part of the bodywork on the course of the hazard emergence process during a front-to-side vehicles’ collision. Model tests in the PC-Crash program have been prepared and implemented. Their results allowed to establish the relationship between the increased side-stiffness and the characteristic values of physical quantities, which are the measure of the hazard and its effects in a vehicles’ collision.