This paper describes the applicability of plastic scale modeling to evaluate the crash performance of the vehicle structure, which is considered an effective tool in the initial stage of vehicle development.
In selecting a suitable plastic material, importance was placed on the relative insensitivity to breakage under load, as well as the similarity of the stress versus strain characteristics to that of steel.
A corrective formula was derived to convert the plastic material results to that of steel material. This formula is based on the examination of the substantial effect of material thickness, in addition to general scale analogy.
Further, the plastic scale model load versus displacement characteristics, corrected using the corrective formula, were inputted in a simple mathematical simulation model. The use of this technique can predict crash response with adequate accuracy.