Performance Evaluation of Bus Structure in Rollover as Per ECE-R66 Using Validated Numerical Simulation

A rollover event is one of the most crucial hazards for the safety of passengers and bus drivers. Deformation in bus body structure seriously threatens passengers' lives. European regulation “ECE-R66” is in force to prevent the catastrophic consequences of such rollover accidents from occurring and thereby ensuring passenger safety for buses and coaches. On similar lines, is bus code is also coming into force in India. These regulations establish the requirements for passenger survival space (residual space) after the rollover incident happens.

According to said regulations, certification can be obtained either by full-scale vehicle testing, or by a validated numerical simulation. The numerical simulation for bus rollover can be carried out using the non-linear explicit dynamic code LS-DYNA and the deformed structure obtained from the simulation enables engineers to investigate whether there is any intrusion in the passenger survival space along the entire vehicle.

The rollover performance of the bus is being tested by simulation in LS-DYNA. This paper will discuss the procedure for carrying out the rollover analysis, the methodology to obtain passenger survival space (residual space) from the simulation results and the correlation of numerical simulation with field tests.