Integrating the Results of Sheet Forming Simulation in Crashworthiness

The main truck cabin or car body parts needs a precise design due its importance to occupant safety. In the last years and in the present these parts are commonly designed using sheet material nominal properties and the influence of the forming process (thickness reduction, plastic strain and residual stress) was not take in account. This procedure hidden some spurious answers of the structures and sacrifice in some cases the vehicle safety. Other consequences are a bigger cost of test of prototypes and delays in the launching of new products. To minimize this problem, it becomes necessary to introduce the effect of the forming process in the structural sizing and the analyses of the occupant safety (Crashworthiness) of new cabins and body cars. It is also known that the Sheet Forming Simulation reached precision and trustworthiness enough to supply the geometric and material changes to Crashworthiness analysis.

Thus the present work will describe the supply and integration of the forming effects in the Crashworthiness analysis of a vital part of a truck cabin. The differences gotten in the Crashworthiness analysis in the mentioned part is described and commented. Finally the difficulties, limitations and future improvements for the frequent use in wide scale are commented.