This paper outlines the most recent developments and experiences gained at engineering system international (ESI) for crashworthiness assessment in the automotive industry. These developments largely center upon our explicit finite element code pam-crash and the use of supercomputers. The application and methodology used to implement this code for automotive crash stimulation is illustrated herein using several examples. These include impact of a curved box beam, axial impact-crushing of a vehcile main rail and a full car crash simulation. Also included is the parametric crashworthiness study of a frontal car assembly. These examples demonstrate the diversity of problems that may be tackled with the tackled with the explicit pam-crash code and, in each case, the severity of impact that may be achieved.
Abstract