Crashworthy Examination of a Newly Proposed Impact Attenuator Design: Experimental Testing and Numerical Analysis

Laksmana Widi Prasetya,Raymundus Lulus Lambang Govinda Hidajat,Ristiyanto Adiputra,Syamsul Hadi,Aditya Rio Prabowo,Ubaidillah Ubaidillah,Tuswan Tuswan,Angelos Markopoulos

doi:10.1155/2021/5001060

Abstract

The impact attenuator is a safety vehicle system designed to absorb the kinetic energy from a collision that is converted into deformation and ensures the deceleration level acting on the human body remains low. In this paper, we propose that the impact attenuator be fabricated with used cans, which are easy to obtain. Compared to fabricating cylinders through machining and other production processes using new material, the application of used cans may reduce production costs by approximately IDR 500,000 (USD 34.50) for one attenuator structure, while the attenuator still meets the weight criterion, i.e., it has to be light to improve acceleration and fuel efficiency. As a type of metal waste product, food cans are often fabricated from aluminum and other metal alloys. These products are widely used in our lives; if they are not recycled, they can potentially pollute the environment as waste. Given these problems and considering the use of environmentally friendly materials, lightweight used cans were chosen as materials for the proposed impact attenuator design. In the initial study, the verification and validation tests of the impact attenuator shell and used cans show good agreement between the numerical and experimental impact tests. The proposed impact attenuator design under the predetermined parameters showed that used cans of aluminum 6063 series can be recommended as an alternative material in this system.

Highlights

Student Formula is an international competition organized by the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (FSAE), which challenges each team of students to conceptualize, design, and build a high-performance, small-model formula car
The mean forces for the shell of the impact attenuator with element sizes of 9×9 and 10.8×10.8 mm were not significantly different; as such, we found that an element size of 10.8×10.8 mm can be used to model the impact attenuator’s shell to speed up the computation time while ensuring results accuracy
The verification test of the impact attenuator and used cans showed that both the experimental and numerical results are in good agreement, indicating the correctness of the proposed finite element model with minor differences or error below 5%

Summary

Introduction

Student Formula is an international competition organized by the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (FSAE), which challenges each team of students to conceptualize, design, and build a high-performance, small-model formula car. The impact attenuator is designed to absorb the kinetic energy when collision energy is converted into a deformation to protect the vital parts behind the bulkhead from damage caused by shock loads. This attenuator is assembled in the front bulkhead of the vehicle because the most intensive load occurs in the front bulkhead position [5]. As explained in the rules, each team must design an impact attenuator with a wearable standard where the attenuator must absorb at least 7350 J

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