Fluid-Structure Coupled Modeling for HYGE Impact Simulator

The HYGE impact simulator is designed to reproduce the crash pulse of a real world vehicle impact in the laboratory environment. When a crash pulse is given, it usually takes a substantial amount of works and costs to adjust operating parameters to create the desired pulse on the HYGE machine. To save the operational cost, a mathematical model of the impact simulator using Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE's) was established in the early 70's by Milan and Hegel¹. This ODE modeling method provides predictions of the crash pulses generated by the HYGE impact simulator. However, during subsequent years of practice, it has been found that in some cases these predictions are inaccurate. It is because the ODE method over-simplifies the physics. To improve the prediction accuracy, more sophisticated model of the physical process must be developed. The Fluid-Structure Coupled (FSC) modeling technique was applied on this dynamics problem of the HYGE impact simulator output prediction. It was found that the FSC model predicts more accurately, comparing to the ODE method, the crash pulse the HYGE impact simulator generates.