Finite Element Simulation of the EEVC Offset Deformable Barrier

Statistic shows the majority of real world frontal collisions involve only partial overlap of the vehicle front end. Thus the European Experimental Vehicle Committee (EEVC) has established a safety standard and test procedure utilizing a deformable barrier for offset impacts. The offset deformable barrier (ODB) is designed to represent the characteristics of a vehicle front end. Therefore, it can replace a target vehicle and the offset test can be conducted economically. Many component, sub-assembly and full vehicle system tests have been conducted in Ford using the EEVC ODB. Based on the various tests, the barrier responds differently depending on the front end design and the size of an impacting vehicle. Sometimes the front end of a test vehicle punches through the barrier. Also rupture of aluminum sheets and tearing of honeycomb materials are often observed in post-test barriers. The complex failure mode of the deformable barrier makes it very difficult to simulate using the available finite element material model. To provide a CAE tool for the ODB simulations, a robust finite element barrier model was developed. Various component and system tests were adopted to evaluate the performance of the barrier model. The results obtained from the finite element simulations showed reasonable agreements with tests.