The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has developed moving deformable barriers for vehicle crash test procedures to assess vehicle and occupant response in partial overlap vehicle crashes.
For this paper, based on the NHTSA Oblique Test procedure, a mid-size sedan was tested. The intent of this research was to provide insight into possible design changes to enhance the oblique collision performance of vehicles.
The test results predicted high injury risk for BrIC, chest deflection, and the lower extremities. In this particular study, reducing lower extremity injuries has been focused on. Traditionally, lower extremity injuries have been reduced by limiting the intrusion of the lower region of the cabin's toe-board.
In this study, it is assumed that increasing the energy absorbed within the engine compartment is more efficient than reinforcing the passenger compartment as a method to reduce lower extremity injuries. However, CAE analysis for the NHTSA Oblique test shows that reinforcing the engine compartment structure can result in an increase in vehicle aggressiveness.
An issue is that the Research Moving Deformable Barrier (RMBD) Oblique Test will lead to an overall increase in vehicle aggressiveness. The RMDB oblique crash alone is not an effective assessment of collision compatibility.