Title: Design and simulation of an energy absorbing underride guard for heavy vehicle rear-end impacts

Authors: A.O. Atahan

Addresses: Civil Engineering Department, Mustafa Kemal University, Serinyol, Hatay 31040, Turkey ' ' '

Abstract: In this study, design modifications to an underride guard that minimally complies with the requirements contained in FMVSS 223/224 are evaluated. A previously performed crash test on the guard using a compact passenger car demonstrated the potential for excessive vehicle underride and passenger compartment intrusion problems. After the full-scale crash test, a detailed finite-element study is performed to investigate the shortcomings of the design. Simulation results show that the modified rear underride guard performs much better than the original design. The guard dissipated a significant amount of the impacting vehicle|s energy and showed no potential for passenger-compartment intrusion in any simulation. The deceleration of the vehicle was also within acceptable limits. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the improved guard performed well and the implementation of this particular underride guard on heavy vehicles looks promising.

Keywords: computer simulation; energy dissipation; FMVSS 223/224; heavy vehicles; LS-DYNA; passenger compartment intrusion; rear-end crash; underride guard

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2003.003697

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2003 Vol.10 No.4, pp.321 - 343

Published online: 02 Dec 2003 *

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