Application of the Finite Element Method for Improvement of Vehicle Crashworthiness

An analytic method is attempted to optimize the body structure of a passenger car by the quantitative prediction of crashworthiness from the early stage of vehicle development. PAM-CRASH, one of explicit nonlinear finite element programs on market, is used as a tool for crash simulation in the present work and a finite element full-car model for frontal crash analysis is developed with reference to an established car. The reliability of the present simulation method and the pertinence of the developed finite element model are examined carefully by comparing the numerical simulation results of various kinds with the corresponding test results. With the finite element model validated with test results, attempts have been made to improve the crashworthiness by modifying the body structure.