Vehicle impact simulation for curb and barrier design : volume 1, impact simulation procedures.

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Impact simulation procedures
• Creators:
  Consolazio, G. R. ; Chung, J. H.
• Corporate Creators:
  New Jersey. Dept. of Transportation. Division of Research and Technology
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Crash tests
  • Curbs
  • Barriers (Roads)
  • Finite element method
  • Computer simulations
  • Crash tests
  • Finite element analysis
  • Highway vehicle object simulation model(HVOSM)
  • Impact tests
  • Motor vehicle accidents
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• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA 1998-07
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  New Jersey
• Edition:
  Final report; Jan. 1997-Aug. 1998.
• Corporate Publisher:
  New Jersey. Dept. of Transportation
• Abstract:
  The objectives of this study were to perform computer simulations of vehicle-curb and vehicle-berm impacts, to characterize ; the behavior of a wide range of vehicle types after such impacts, and to produce design and evaluation trajectory data for use by ; NJDOT engineers. The impact simulations performed involved a wide variety of vehicle types and several different curb and berm ; configurations that are typical of those in use in the state of New Jersey. Simulation results from this research, primarily in the form of ; vehicle bumper trajectory plots, were produced to supplement existing curb-impact vehicle trajectory databases. Vehicle trajectory data ; of this type is typically used to determine appropriate set-back distances for guide rails(railings) that are located near curbs. Such ; railings must be positioned so that vehicles impacting curbs do not overshoot the top of railings placed nearby. ; Due to the wide variety of curb and berm profiles used in New Jersey and due to the even wider variety of vehicle types ; traveling our roadways, a large number of impact simulations were performed for this project in an attempt to cover an adequate ; spectrum of possible impact scenarios. Six different vehicle types- including vehicles ranging from compact cars to minivans and sport ; utility vehicles- were simulated impacting several different curb and berm profiles. In addition, for each vehicle and curb combination, ; the impact simulations were performed for several different impact angles and impact speeds. To account for possible variations in ; vehicle suspension characteristics, a range of vehicle suspension values were used for each vehicle simulated. After performing the ; impact simulations using suspension values at both ends of the chosen range of values, an envelope of possible vehicle trajectories ; was generated from the simulations results. ; The research approaches employed in this project consisted of using numerical simulation techniques to perform vehicle ; impact analysis. These techniques were the HVOSM (highway vehicle object simulation model) method and the FEA (finite element ; analysis) method. The HVOSM system represents a vehicle as a relatively small number of discrete objects, each having lumped mass ; an inertial properties, and each being connected to other parts of the vehicle through links. Vehicle and tire properties for use in the ; HVOSM simulations were obtained from several different sources available in research literature. In the FEA method, a fundamentally ; different approach is used. Rather than representing the vehicle by a small number of “lumped” objects, the FEA approach is to model ; the vehicle as a large collection of very small pieces (or elements). Each element accounts for only a small portion of the vehicle and ; the properties of each element represent the properties (e.g. tire stiffness, steel stiffness, etc). of that small portion of the vehicle. These ; elements are then linked together into a large model, typically on the order of several thousands to tens of thousands of elements in ; size. Each of these methods, i.e. HVOSM and FEA, offer some advantages and disadvantages. These issues are discussed in detail in ; this report.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/15461/dot_15461_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.25 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:d55b0e31c0d8c5dd6da958b3cb68a66575d75da5cfd822c39b1573cf88f3246b