A composite test procedure for side impact evaluation has been proposed by Volkswagen as an alternative to full scale dynamic test procedures for side impact compliance. Alternative procedures such as this approach could offer increased customer benefit due to lower testing costs and perhaps ultimately increased side impact safety. The Volkswagen procedure utilizes a three-step static crush of door inner and outer structures and then uses this data in a lumped mass computer model to simulate the full scale crush. The fundamental assumptions of this procedure, such as dynamic rate effects and alternative load path assumptions are evaluated. The bulk of the report is devoted to a comparison of results from the alternative test procedure with full scale dynamic moving barrier tests. Results are shown for a full sized four door vehicle and a two and four door intermediate vehicle. The sensitivities of the results to several parameters such as door mass and strain rate were evaluated. It was found that the portion of the static test associated with the inner panel was probably the most critical part of the alternative procedure. If this test is not controlled accurately, the simulation results may differ significantly from the results of a full scale dynamic test. Although there is still relatively little data available, significant differences between the alternative protocol and the dynamic test were observed. Some of these differences may be difficult to resolve within the proposed protocol. Several other alternative procedures also based on computer simulation are suggested. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference, see IRRD 837684.
Abstract