Computational analysis of motorcoach rollover for passenger safety assessment
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Date
2016-08
Authors
Zhou, Wei
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Zhou Wei, Kuznetcov Anton, Telichev Igor, Wu Christine
Abstract
Under increasing public concern for the passenger safety in large passenger vehicles, legislative regulations are enforced and continuously updated. Recently, a new federal regulation was proposed in North America to enhance the safety level of the motorcoach passengers under the rollover, based on regulation No.66 of the Economic Commission for Europe, but with more severe loading conditions in the form of full passenger mass ballasted to all seats. The studies in this thesis use the explicit finite element method (implemented in LS-DYNA) and the load transfer index U* to model and analyze the motorcoach rollover event in order to evaluate the structural performance and passenger safety in accordance with related legislative regulations. A modified version of complete finite element model of a typical motorcoach is developed and validated using data from the component test and the complete vehicle rollover test. The rollover tests are numerically replicated for loading conditions corresponding to the vehicle with zero and full passenger mass respectively. The comparative study is performed on the structural resistance to deformation and energy absorption capability. The original concept of U* index is applied for analysis of key structural components experiencing the elastic-plastic deformation to determine the load path and examine the load transfer efficiency.
Obtained coach rollover simulation results indicate that test condition of the proposed regulation leads to a 150% increase in penetration distance to the surviving space of the passenger compartment compared to the ECE R66 condition. The key structural members, which absorb the most energy in the rollover impact, are identified, and the need for the higher rollover resistance of the coach for its compliance with the newly proposed regulation is demonstrated. Obtained load transfer analysis results show the effectiveness of the application of the U* approach in detecting the change of load path within the structural elements experiencing plastic deformation. It shows that the U* approach can be used in combination with FEM as an effective tool for the vehicle crashworthiness analysis. Overall, results of this study can provide a data basis for the automotive manufacturers to evaluate and improve the rollover resistance of motorcoaches.
Description
Keywords
Motorcoach Rollover, Vehicle Design, Passenger Safety, Crashworthiness, Load Transfer Analysis
Citation
Zhou W, Kuznetcov A, Telichev I, Wu C. "Deformable-Rigid Switch in Computational Simulation of Bus Rollover Test." Proceedings: 24th International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics 2016.