Development of heavy truck front underride protection device
by Manuel Castellanos; M. El-Gindy; Chris Fedishen; Daniel Maciejewski; Ali O. Atahan
International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems (IJHVS), Vol. 19, No. 1, 2012

Abstract: Two energy-absorbing heavy vehicle Front Underride Protection Devices (FUPDs) are designed and analysed using static and dynamic loading. Finite element models of FUPDs were attached to an existing simplified heavy vehicle frontal model to achieve realistic boundary conditions. A versatile non-linear finite element code, LS-DYNA, capable of representing large plastic deformations, is used to perform the analyses. The height of the device from ground, loading position and FUPD stiffness are varied to evaluate and compare the crash performance of FUPDs. ECE R93 standard was used for static testing and acceptance evaluation. For the dynamic tests, a 900 kg passenger car was used to impact the FUPDs at different speeds ranging from 46 km/h to 90 km/h with 100% and 50% offset. Comparison between the crash results with and without various designs of FUPDs is performed to assess the adequacy of each design. On the basis of the simulation study, a suitable lightweight FUPD is developed. Furthermore, a set of evaluation criteria is proposed. Adoption of these criteria by North America and the global community is strongly recommended for the adequate evaluation of heavy truck FUPD designs.

Online publication date: Sat, 20-Dec-2014

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