An Investigation into Vehicle Frontal Impact Stiffness, BEV and Repeated Testing for Reconstruction

The reconstruction of motor vehicle collisions requires an analysis and quantification of the impact phase of the vehicular collision. In order to study the dynamics and velocity dependence of the impact phase, a series of four rigid barrier impact tests were designed and conducted. These tests were structured to bracket publicly available government compliance test data for a specific make and model vehicle and to define the vehicle frontal crash response over a broad range of impact speeds. These tests also provide a basis for the analysis and comparison of the results of a common damage energy reconstruction technique. A car to car, front to rear, impact test using the same make and model vehicles, was conducted to allow the comparison of crush incurred in two different collision environments at similar Delta V (AV) exposure levels.