The Design of Impact Absorbing Members for Aluminum Structured Vehicles

As part of the development of Aluminum Structured Vehicle Technology (ASVT), significant advances have been made in the design of impact energy absorbing members for automobiles. This paper compares the performance of aluminum and steel impact members, and discusses the influence of the material properties of aluminum on subsequent impact member performance. Methods for designing aluminum impact members for stability, collapse initiation and subsequent collapse performance are presented. This includes both analytical and finite element modelling.