Analyzing The Trip-Phase of Soft-Soil Rollovers

Rollover collisions sometimes involve a vehicle sliding and plowing on a soft-soil surface. There is little work published on the deceleration rates for a vehicle sliding and plowing in soft soil. Previous tests involving a 4-door sedan sliding sideways and plowing on a soft-soil surface were modeled using the HVE and SIMON 3-dimensional computer simulation program. The plowing forces were modeled using a series of friction multipliers. In addition, an SUV was simulated crossing the same surface in a similar fashion. Results based on these analyzed tests indicate that the average deceleration rate for either vehicle sliding sideways on this soft-soil surface may be approximated by using the vehicle’s static stability factor, or T/2H. This paper presents computer modeling techniques used to analyze overturn crashes. Specifically the SIMON 3-dimensional computer simulation model is used in this work.