The design of roll over structural protection is based on the strength and the total energy absorbed by the complete structure of the bus. The force-deformation behaviour of the transverse frame sections and sufficient strength of those interior arrangement parts which have influence on the residual space have dominant effects on the bus roll over phenomenon and passenger survival under deformed structure. In this paper, the design consideration, nonlinear finite element analysis, experimental test simulation and accident investigations including deformation measurements and absorbed energy prediction are studied and described. The results meet the requirement of ECE Regulation No. 66. A successful implementation of the results was done on inter-urban bus prototype. However, limited protection is obtained in the case of large local deformation. The conclusions and the bus structural design are presented. For the covering abstract see ITRD E116488.
Samenvatting