Impact Attenuator Design for Improvement of Racing Car Drivers’ Safety

Abstract

An essential element for driver safety is represented by the Impact Attenuator (especially for race cars). The effect of the Impact Attenuator can be seen in the behavior of a dummy, tied with a seat belt, in a frontal collision with a rigid wall. The loads that act on the dummy are determined and checked to see if they fall within the values recommended by existing standards. The car is considered a structure with a dummy fixed with a seat belt and equipped with an Impact Attenuator. Two types of Impact Attenuator having constructive similarity and symmetries are studied, made up of three different materials and different thicknesses of material. The behavior of the dummy was studied, considering a frontal collision of the car–dummy assembly, in accordance with existing standards. Using simulation software, the accelerations were determined at various points on the mannequin’s body and the force appearing on the seat belts was determined. The Gibbs–Appell equations are the method used to determine the dynamic response in this problem involving shocks.