ONE OF THE MAIN AIMS IN AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN IS TO IMPROVE COLLISION SAFETY WHILE REDUCING VEHICLE WEIGHT TO ECONOMISE NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY. GUARD BEAMS, WHICH ARE FITTED INSIDE THE DOORS FOR IMPROVED SIDE COLLISION CHARACTERISTICS, NOT ONLY INCREASE VEHICLE WEIGHT, BUT ALSO RESTRICT MORE EFFECTIVE USE OF LIMITED VEHICLE SPACE. FOR FURTHER MINITURIZATION AND WEIGHT REDUCTION AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO DESIGN A DOOR GUARD BEAM CONSTRUCTED OF ULTRA HIGH STRENGTH STEEL, THE STRENGTH OF WHICH IS SEVERAL TIMES GREATER THAN MILD STEEL. DURING THE DESIGN STAGE, AN ANALYTICAL STUDY WAS CONDUCTED ON A CROSS SECTION OF THE GUARD BEAM SO AS TO DETERMINE WHETHER BUCKLING WOULD OCCUR FOLLOWING THE REDUCTION IN THICKNESS AND TO MAKE THE MOST EFFECTIVE USE OF THE PROPERTIES OF THE HIGH STRENGTH MATERIAL. BASED ON THE ANALYTICAL RESULTS, A PERFORMANCE TEST WAS CONDUCTED ON A GUARD BEAM WHICH WAS REDUCED 10 TO 20 PERCENT IN WEIGHT AND 10 TO 30 PERCENT IN BEAM-WIDTH. AS A RESULT OF THIS TEST IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT ULTRA HIGH STRENGTH STEEL CAN BE SATISFACTORILY UTILIZED TO ALLOW WEIGHT REDUCTION AND STILL BE CONSISTENT WITH COLLISION SAFETY REQUIREMENTS. (A) FOR THE COVERING ABSTRACT OF SECTION 5 SEE IRRD 266063. FOR THE COVERING ABSTRACT OF THE CONFERENCE SEE IRRD 266046.
Samenvatting