A Method for Determining the Vehicle-to-Ground Contact Load during Laboratory-based Rollover Tests

Many rollover safety researches have been conducted experimentally and analytically to investigate the underlying causes of vehicle accidents and develop rollover test procedures and test methodologies to help understand the nature of rollover crash events. In addition, electronic and/or mechanical instrumentation are used in dummy and vehicle to measure their responses that allow both vehicle kinematics study and occupant injury assessment. However, method for measurement of dynamic structural deformation needs further exploration, and means to monitor vehicle-to-ground contact load is still lacking. Thus, this paper presents a method for determining the vehicle-to-ground load during laboratory-based rollover tests using results obtained from a camera-matching photogrammetric technology as inputs to a FE SUV model using a nonlinear crash analysis code. Results obtained from a FE vehicle model simulation of an SAE J2114 dolly test represent the first time a promising means with which the dynamic contact loads between the vehicle roof and ground during this rollover mode can be quantified.