Optimisation of a Bus Superstructure From the Rollover Safety Point of View

Bus superstructures may soon be subject to new rollover safety requirements. Increased rollover safety must be achieved with minimum weight or cost penalty; hence, optimisation has a significant practical relevance.

This paper demonstrates the possibility of predicting the collapse performance of a bus superstructure by a completely theoretical model. The work described also created a basis for the option offered by the new regulations that allows type approval by calculation combined with some component tests. It also shows how a safety structure can be optimised from the weight or cost point of view by means of a special computer program.