Browse Topic: Underride guards
The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of quasistatic force deformation (QSFD) data to represent the collision forces in low-speed collinear collisions when there is damage to vehicle body structures as well as the bumpers. In this study five full-scale underride/override crash tests were performed and simulated with QSFD data. In each crash test a bumper or a trailer underride guard on a bullet vehicle overrode the rear or front bumper of a target vehicle and damaged structures above the bumper of the target vehicle. A QSFD measurement was performed substantially similar to the vehicle interactions in the crash using a complete exemplar target vehicle that was rigidly attached to the earth. The output of a QSFD measurement is force deflection data for the vehicle pair. Each crash test was simulated using the QSFD data, the weights of the test vehicles, the closing speed of the test vehicles, and the restitution measured in the crash test. The output of a simulation was
As the automotive industry focuses on fuel-efficient and eco-friendly vehicles along with reducing the carbon footprint, weight reduction becomes essential. Composite materials offer several advantages over metals, including lighter weight, corrosion resistance, low maintenance, longer lifespan, and the ability to customize their strength and stiffness according to specific loading requirements. This paper describes the design and development of the Rear Under Run Protection Device (RUPD) using composite materials. RUPD is designed to prevent rear under-running of passenger vehicles by heavy-duty trucks in the event of a crash. The structural strength and integrity of RUPD assembly are evaluated by applying loads and constraints in accordance with IS 14812:2005. The design objective was to reduce weight while maintaining a balance between strength, stiffness, weight, manufacturability, and cost. The process involved detailed laminate design, finite element analysis, and optimization
In 2021, 412,432 road accidents were reported in India, resulting in 153,972 deaths and 384,448 injuries. India has the highest number of road fatalities, accounting for 11% of the global road fatalities. Therefore, it is important to explore the underlying causes of accidents on Indian roads. The objective of this study is to identify the factors inherent in accidents in India using clustering analysis based on self-organizing maps (SOM). It also attempts to recommend some countermeasures based on the identified factors. The study used Indian accident data collected by members of ICAT-ADAC (International Centre for Automotive Technology - Accident Data Analysis Centre) under the ICAT-RNTBCI joint project approved by the Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India. 210 cases were collected from the National Highway between Jaipur and Gurgaon and 239 cases from urban and semi-urban roads around Chennai were used for the analysis. Based on this study, the following results were
Underrun Protection devices (UPDs) are specially designed barriers fitted to the front, side, or rear of heavy trucks. In case of accidents, these devices prevent small vehicles such as bikes and passenger cars going underneath and thus minimizing the severity of such accident. Design and strength of UPD is such that it absorbs the impact energy and offers impact resistance to avoid the vehicle under run. Compliance to UPD safety regulations provides stringent requirements in terms of device design, dimensions, and its behavior under impact loading. Since accuracy of Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) predictions have improved, numerical tools like Finite element method (FEM) are extensively used for design, development, optimization, and performance verification with respect to target regulatory performance requirements. For improved accuracy of performance prediction through FEA, correct FE representation of sub-systems is very important. One such sub-system in UPDs is bolted
A rear underrun protection device (RUPD) plays a fundamental role in reducing the risk of running a small car beneath the rear or the side of a heavy truck because of the difference in structure heights in the event of a vehicle collision. Even in cars with five-star safety ratings, crashing into a truck with poorly designed RUPD results in a passenger compartment intrusion (PCI) more than the maximum allowable limit as per the United States (US) American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) standards Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS). In this article, mild steel was used to fabricate the new designs of RUPD. The design was analyzed using finite element (FE) analysis LS-DYNA software. Simulations of a Toyota Yaris 2010 and Ford Taurus 2001 were performed at a constant speed of 63 km/h at the time of impact. The ability to prevent severe injuries in a collision with the rear side of the truck was estimated to optimize the underrun design. The new design has
Impacts between passenger vehicles and heavy vehicles are uniquely severe due to the aggressivity of the heavy vehicles; this is a function of the difference in their geometry and mass. Side crashes with heavy vehicles are a particularly severe crash type due to the mismatch in bumper/structure height that often results in underride and extensive intrusion of the passenger compartment. Underride occurs when a portion of one vehicle, usually the smaller vehicle, moves under another, rendering many of the passenger vehicle safety systems ineffective. Heavy vehicles in the US, including single-unit trucks, truck tractors, semi-trailers, and full trailers, are currently not required to have side underride protection devices. The NTSB, among other groups, has recommended that side underride performance standards be developed and that heavy vehicles be equipped with side underride protection systems that meet those standards. The work presented used virtual testing to evaluate the relative
Although semitrailer underride collisions have a relatively high risk of injury, the significant body of data developed through crash testing has not been previously analyzed in a single study to be readily used by the accident reconstructionist. This study examined the publicly available IIHS semitrailer rear underride tests (N = 35). The crash data were classified as full-width (n = 9), 50% overlap (n = 11), and 30% overlap (n = 15). A 2010 Chevrolet Malibu impacted the rear underride guard of a stationary semitrailer at 35 mph. Several collision parameters, that is, vehicle longitudinal, lateral, and vertical delta-Vs, guard deformations, and occupant compartment intrusions were characterized and compared between different overlap groups. The coefficient of restitution and impact duration were also quantified and their relationship with different underride parameters was explored. The accuracy of the “black box” data for different overlap groups was evaluated. For N = 16 tests (n
The objective of this study was to analyze the validity of airbag control module data in semi-trailer rear underride collisions. These impacts involve unusual collision dynamics, including long crash pulses and minimal bumper engagement [1]. For this study, publicly available data from 16 semi-trailer underride guard crash tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) were used to form conclusions about the accuracy of General Motors airbag control module (ACM) delta-V (ΔV) data in a semi-trailer rear underride scenario. These tests all utilized a 2009 or 2010 Chevrolet Malibu impacting a stationary 48’ or 53’ semi-trailer at a speed of 35 mph. Nine tests were fully overlapped collisions, six were 30% overlapped, and one was 50% overlapped [2]. The IIHS test vehicles were equipped with calibrated 10000 Hz accelerometer units. Event Data Recorder (EDR) data imaged post-accident from the test vehicles were compared to the reference IIHS data. For each test, root
Occupant dynamics during passenger vehicle underride has not been extensively evaluated. The present study examined the occupant data from IIHS rear underride crash tests. A total of 35 crash tests were evaluated. The tests were classified as full-width (n = 9), 50% overlap (n = 11), and 30% overlap (n = 15). A 2010 Chevrolet Malibu impacted the rear underride guard of a stationary trailer at 35 mph. Several occupant kinematics and dynamics data including head accelerations, head injury criteria, neck shear and axial forces, neck moments, neck indices, chest acceleration, chest displacement, chest viscous criterion, sternum deflection rate, and left/right femur forces/impulses, knee displacements, tibia axial forces, upper/lower tibia moments, upper/lower tibia indices, and foot accelerations were measured. The vehicle accelerations, delta-Vs, and occupant compartment intrusions were also evaluated. The results indicated that the head and neck injury parameters were positively
Rear underrun protection device is crucial for rear impact and rear under-running of the passenger vehicles to the heavy duty trucks. Rear underrun protection device design should obey the safety regulative rules and successfully pass several test conditions. The objective and scope of this paper is the constrained optimization of the design of a rear underrun protection device (RUPD) beam of heavy duty trucks for impact loading using correlated CAE and test methodologies. In order to minimize the design iteration phase of the heavy duty truck RUPD, an effective, real-life testing correlated, finite element model have been constructed via RADIOSS software. Later on, Pareto Optimization has been applied to the finite element model, by constructing designed experiments. The best solution has been selected in terms of cost, manufacturing and performance. Finally, real-life verification testing has been applied for the correlation of the optimum solution.
This work describes the design and testing of side underride protection devices (SUPD) for tractor-trailers and straight trucks. Its goal is to reduce the incompatibility between small passenger cars and these large vehicles during side collisions. The purpose of these crash attenuating guards is to minimize occupant injury and passenger compartment intrusion. The methods presented utilize a regulation previously created and published for testing the effectiveness of these devices based on the principles of a force application device already implemented in the Canadian rear underride guard regulation. Topology and multi-objective optimization design processes are outlined using a proposed design road map to create the most feasible SUPD. The test vehicle in question is a 2010 Toyota Yaris which represents the 1100C class of vehicle from the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH). Since the tractor-trailers and straight trucks utilize different structural components, separate
This SAE Recommended Practice establishes the recommended locations for the air brake and electrical connections for towing multiple trailers. It applies to all commercial trailers except drop frame and car haul types.
This SAE Recommended Practice establishes the recommended locations for the air brake and electrical connections for towing multiple trailers. It applies to all commercial trailers except drop frame and car haul types.
The heavy commercial vehicles are equipped with under-run protection devices (UPD) to enhance safety of occupants in small vehicles in the event of under-run. These UPD are popularly classified as RUPD (rear under-run protection devices), SUPD (side under-run protection devices), FUPD (front under-run protection devices). These devices primarily work to improve safety of smaller vehicles by changing its interaction with heavy vehicles thereby resulting in change in small vehicle structural engagement for energy absorption. Without UPD, smaller vehicle passenger compartment is likely to interact with stiff commercial vehicle chassis frame structures. However with UPD, the smaller vehicle front-end structure gets involved in the crash which helps in controlled energy absorption and safe-guards the passenger compartment. At present, regulatory criteria have been defined for the minimum static strength, stiffness requirements at component level for these UPD besides dimensional
This SAE Recommended Practice is intended to provide a uniform basis for evaluating the effectiveness of rear underride devices employed to reduce the likelihood of penetration of the passenger compartment of an impacting vehicle. The procedures described in this document provide means for determining the characteristics of a rear underride guard, taking into consideration the nature and direction of forces involved.
This SAE Recommended Practice is intended to provide a uniform basis for evaluating the effectiveness of rear underride devices employed to reduce the likelihood of penetration of the passenger compartment of an impacting vehicle. The procedures described in this report provide means for determining the characteristics of a rear underride guard, taking into consideration the nature and direction of forces involved.
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