Method for Leg Protection of Pedestrians and Cyclists by Vehicle Front Adaptation

Increasing motorisation has resulted in large numbers of fatalities to vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. European regulations and consumer tests for passenger cars now address vehicle front aggressiveness and vehicle manufactures have effectively developed design solutions meeting these requirements. In a range of research projects and commercial projects design methods were developed by TASS, addressing pedestrian safety requirements using both multibody and Finite Element simulations. This paper shows how conceptual multibody simulations provide guidelines for the deformation space and force levels in the bumper and bonnet leading edge area. The design was optimised in three stages addressing respectively European Pedestrian Protection Directive 2003/102/EC Phase- I, Phase- II and EuroNCAP. The derived guidelines provide a starting point to place rigid parts, and to engineer feasible energy absorbing capabilities using a full FE model of the vehicle front structure.