The analysis and modeling of vehicle crush in accident reconstruction has traditionally been based upon the use of linear, crush-based, stiffness coefficients. Recent advances have allowed for the calculation and implementation of non-linear crush coefficients in the accident reconstruction software Human-Vehicle-Environment (HVE) by Engineering Dynamics Corporation (EDC). HVE contains the collision algorithm called DyMESH (DYnamic MEchanical SHell), which is capable of using the non-linear coefficients. These non-linear coefficients have shown to increase the accuracy of a predicted crash pulse.
Published research on non-linear crush coefficients for the use in HVE has been limited to frontal impacts. Calculating side stiffness coefficients is more complex since most side impact crash tests involve two vehicles that can crush and absorb impact energy. One type of side impact test is described in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 214D, which involves a crabbed Moving Deformable Barrier (MDB) impacting a stationary subject vehicle. To calculate the crush coefficients of the subject vehicle, the crush characteristics of the MDB must first be established. Once the MDB coefficients are calculated, the side stiffness of the subject vehicle can be calculated.
The aim of this research was to develop an MDB model for use in HVE and to calculate the non-linear crush coefficients for the MDB. The model, and established crush coefficients, were used in HVE to simulate MDB-to-rigid barrier tests. The simulation results regarding crash pulse duration and peak values, vehicle kinematics, and predicted crush to the MDB were compared to the actual crash test to assess the quality of the non-linear coefficients of the MDB.