Material Design and Thermally Induced Triggers in Crash Management

The present paper describes a concept that introduces a new dimension in design of crash management components and structures in aluminum. By deposition of a confined amount of heat in short pulses it is possible to manipulate the mechanical properties of aluminum alloys at accurate positions. The method enables local modifications of e.g. yield strength and ductility in order to guide plastic deformation. This type of hidden design features of the product can be implemented utilizing the interplay between crash simulation analysis on one hand and numerical simulations of physical material properties on the other. A few examples are shown in the present paper as well as experimental results for an energy absorbing crash box.