This study is the result of 2 years of work between the Renault
safety department and the Faurecia R&D department. The paper is
based on 5 different items aimed at developing improved occupant
safety and controlling development of the safety components:
- Definition of different crash configurations and the
associated biomechanical criteria by the car manufacturer.
- Definition of functional specifications (geometry and
stiffness for each component) using global simulations. This is the
starting point for discussions between the car manufacturer and the
suppliers. Comparison of the specifications to the state of the art
gives the first orientations for future developments.
- An exchange of simulation data to allow overall simulations as
early as possible by the supplier's simulation department: Each
component can be represented by springs or contact interfaces in
the different calculation programs. This simplifies the simulation
without the need to exchange information on supplier expertise or
technical solutions.
- Definition of common numerical tools and specific outputs: The
supplier's global simulation method is compared to
Renault's and an objective result is obtained. The performance
of each component in the global configuration has to be evaluated
with special outputs called force balance.
- Creation by the supplier of a technical solutions database to
reduce development times for new projects.