Calculating Three Dimensional Stiffness Coefficients for Use in Three Dimensional Simulation Modeling for Accident Reconstruction

Numerous studies have validated SIMON and DyMESH with respect to vehicle dynamics and crash analysis for accident reconstruction. The impetus for this paper is to develop an accessible methodology for calculating three-dimensional stiffness coefficients for HVE-SIMON and DyMESH. This method uses acceleration-time data (crash pulse) from a vehicle crash test, data that is widely available through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The crash pulse, along with vehicle mass and impact speed, are used to calculate the force acting on the vehicle and the associated vehicle deflection time history. A technique for determining the area-deflection function is created from a computer model of the vehicle, HVE-SIMON, and basic photo-editing software. The calculated force divided by the associated area function (F/A) is plotted versus deflection and a third-order polynomial is then fit to the curve. The coefficients of this third-order polynomial are the A, B, C, and D stiffness coefficients. The resulting crash pulse and displacement-time history as predicted by HVE-SIMON using the derived three dimensional stiffness coefficients, are compared to the data from the NHSTA crash tests.