Test methods to evaluate vehicle compatibility are being studied worldwide. Compatibility performance is central in securing mutual protection in collisions between large and small vehicles. To consider compatibility performance, good structural interaction and stiffness matching are important. A test method using a novel moving deformable barrier (MDB) was developed to evaluate compatibility performance that includes consideration of both structural interaction and stiffness matching.
This new barrier has the following features to represent an offset vehicle-to-vehicle collision with a compact car.
The barrier width is divided at the lower rail position of the compact car, and the layer that simulates the characteristics of vehicle sections toward the interior is harder than the outward layer. This varying stiffness of the MDB helps simulate the horizontal interaction performance that occurs in real-world crashes.
A bumper structure and a wheel proxy layer are installed at heights corresponding to similar structures of the compact car. These layers are harder than the surrounding layers to evaluate the vertical interaction performance of the evaluated vehicle.
The energy absorption characteristic of this barrier is equivalent to the engine compartment of a compact car to evaluate the stiffness characteristic of the evaluated vehicle.
Vehicle-to-MDB tests were conducted using two large vehicles that have different vertical interaction performance, and the test results were compared to vehicle-to-vehicle test results between prototype SUVs and compact cars.
The correlation was verified between the vehicle-to-MDB test and the vehicle-to-compact car test. This MDB test shows promise for the simultaneous evaluation of both the structural interaction and stiffness of vehicles.
