Research on Vehicle-to-MDB Impact Test for Frontal Impact Compatibility

It has been pointed out that in some cases it is difficult to match stiffnesses between vehicles in vehicle-to-vehicle (V-to-V) impacts, which is considered to be one of the main issues for improving frontal impact compatibility, and fixed barrier tests such as new car assessment programs. Impact tests using a moving deformable barrier (MDB) have been regarded as one of the promising measures to resolve this situation. As an initial step in researching vehicle-to-MDB (V-to-MDB) frontal impact tests, the aim of this work was to develop an MDB-honeycomb that can simulate the vehicle behavior in a V-to-V impact. A small sport-utility vehicle (SUV) and a mid-size sedan were selected as the model vehicles, and a method was developed for determining the specifications of the MDB-honeycomb from geometric data and the results of fixed-barrier tests of the model vehicles. In addition, car-to-MDB (representing the SUV) and SUV-to-MDB (representing the car) impact simulations were run to help confirm the validity of the MDB-honeycombs.