Impact absorbing body structures

Contents
The cost
Accident statistics
Vehicle safety
Pedestrian safety
Bumpers
Bonnets
Bumpers
Towing eyes
High impact crashes
Crush and crumple zones
Front impact
Side impact
Crash simulators
Created by Harvey Heath 2005

The cost of road accidents is huge and on going: salvage and repair/replacement of motor vehicles
repair/ replacement of other property
emergency services
hospital and medical expenses
long term health services
invalid rehabilitation
loss of income
loss of personal productivity
loss of productivity due to transport interruptions
legal expenses

Statistics
Modern vehicles are
travelling faster and faster
and there are far more cars
on the road than ever before

What makes a vehicle safe in a crash?

answer-

stronger is best used to be the approach by motor

manufacturers and the general public and up to a point
is still a philosophy that has some consideration when
people buy motor vehicles

X
Now the thinking is changing, manufacturers have been
actively changing body and chassis design to make
their vehicles safer by fitting energy absorbing sections
to the body and cushioning devices inside to protect
occupants

Old vehicles constructed entirely for strength using full

chassis or monocoque/subframe construction for overall
strength.
This design has been identified as dangerous to both
people inside and outside the vehicle
average records from the USA show:40% of all vehicle accidents are front to front impacts
these contribute to 40% of all motor vehicle related
deaths
side impact is identified as the major impact causing
death and injury
rear impact has less fatalities but creates more severe
injury
roll over statistics show 25% increase in fatalities if
ejected from the vehicle
low speed contact with pedestrians created high
fatalities due to protrusions and non absorbing
bodywork

What makes a car safe?

trend

1997

2004

Safety features: air bags, seat belts

66%

75%

Crash prevention: ABS, tires,

radar

19%

44%

Body strength: bumpers, chassis

54%

32%

Impact absorption

13%

20%

Vehicle Make: design, shape

6%

13%
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Developments to reduce injury when impacting with pedestrians

Crash analysis has shown that not only were older vehicles with
bumpers designed to fend off other vehicles, dangerous, but also
protrusions such as over riders, grille and bonnet ornaments, caused
injury even at low speed.

The height of bumpers forced pedestrians under the bumper rather

than over

Head injury caused by the momentum of the vehicle forcing the body
over the bonnet and into the windscreen without any cushioning or
absorption factor.

Body shape has been identified as potential danger areas when impact
pedestrians.
Bumper sections lowered to lift rather than force down.
Bumpers now must have cushioning sections and mountings
Bonnets must have soft sections to absorb head impact.

In 1975 vehicles manufactured and imported into USA had to have impact
absorbing bumpers in attempt to reduce pedestrian injury and also reduce
vehicle repair costs involved in low speed impact.

1974 English TR6

1974 American export TR6

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Bumper mounting points are made to absorb impact by deforming or

crushing in on themselves, or using hydraulic shock absorbers that
move to absorb impact.

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All bumpers are designed to absorb the impacts energy through a

series of valves and air chambers or hydraulic chambers. Bumpers are
also sometimes designed with built-in crumple zones which flexes on
the impact.

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Impact absorption bumpers

Polycarbonate cover
steel mounting

Aluminium armature

polystyrene foam filling

They are molded in thermoplastic polycarbonate and tested to absorb

impacts up to 8 Kph

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Impact absorption bumpers

Bumper side mountings are quick release type that are not bolted and
break away on impact

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Impact absorption bumpers

Crash test dummies used to determine danger points on the front section
that could reduce injury during pedestrian impact

15

Impact absorption bumpers

This shock cone aluminum bonnet has been developed by Mazda to

reduce impact, and tests show reductions in the extent of head injuries
with vehicles fitted with this development.
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Low speed safety development in modern vehicles

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Front and rear towing hooks not only present a danger to pedestrians
but also cause extensive vehicle body damage in low impact collisions

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The mismatch of bumpers presents a problem with energy absorption not

starting in the correct place causes extensive body damage when low force
energy absorption sections should have controlled the situation

4X4 MPV provide little

protection to other vehicles

Low high performance vehicles have poor

bumper protection
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Low speed impact appears to create a lot of damage but is created by

the crumple zone working.
In this case the shock absorbing sections have folded to take the energy
out of the impact. The bumper has flexed and the mountings have
collapsed to deform the front section. The side guards are not part of the
shock absorption and push out of the way. The bonnet has a shock
absorbing section which causes it to fold rather than move back into the
windscreen or the passenger cage.

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The force created during a crash can be very high and absorption of vehicle
energy takes time to dissipate. In cases like this, no amount of crumple zone
can stop the vehicle destroying itself, but the passenger cage is remarkably
intact though obviously some intrusion has taken place.

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Accident statistics
FRONTAL

SIDE IMPACT

REAR IMPACT

6.8%

19.1%

0.8%

5.2%

19.8%

3.9%

7.4%

2.9%

0.5%

5.1%

3.7%

4.9%

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A few statistics about vehicle crashes

84% of all road accidents are caused by human error
1.1% of road accidents are related to vehicle failures
6.5% accidents related to environmental factors
7.1% involve pedestrians
1.0% other factors
The three main driver related causes are
speed unsuitable for the conditions
failure to yield right of way
errors in leaving the traffic flow

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Newtons first law.

An object in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and in the
same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force

A crumple zone is built into the vehicle to absorb energy on impact. The
purpose is to increase the amount of time it takes the vehicle to come to a
complete stop in comparison to the object the vehicle is impacting with.
Having a crumple zone, the time it takes for the vehicle to come to a stop may
be extended form 0.01 seconds, to 0.2 seconds. By taking more time to slow
down using the crumple zone by a factor of 20 will decrease the acceleration
and therefore the force factor.
Crumple zones yield during a crash changing energy into heat and sound,
which in turn reduces chances that occupants of the vehicle being hurt.

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The events as the crash happens

Time
(MS)

Events

12

initial folding of longitudinal

16

initial folding of sub frame

21

1st buckling of rails upper in front of shock tower

35

engine contacts barrier

37

buckling rear of sub frame at fixture on extension longitudinal

50

rear end of longitudinal start to buckle behind reinforcements

51

wheels contact barrier

67

maximum dynamic deformation

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The vehicles safety features operating

0 ms

Crash begins- bumper contacts impact object

15 ms

Crash sensor determines to deploy air bag or not

20 ms

The seat belt tensioners ignite

2535 ms

All front air bags break free and start to inflate

45 ms

Drivers air bag is fully inflated

55 ms

Passenger air bag fully inflates (usually larger than the drivers air bag)

60 ms

Drivers head and chest contact air bag

70 ms

Passengers head and chest contact air bag

100 ms

Body impression into air bag is at their maximum and start to rebound

150 ms

Body travels backwards until retained by the seat and head rest
( one millisecond = one thousandth of a second)

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Vehicle manufacturers built in compression or crush zones into the

front and rear of the vehicle to protect the passenger cage.
These zones act as time delays to absorb impact energy

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Bumper mounts absorb low speed

impact Air bag sensors mounted here

Crash energy dissipated through

bonnet and hinges

Cross car beam forms front of

passenger cell as well as resist side
intrusion

Bumper beam distributes point load

across the body structure

Crush zones built into front panels

to absorb energy

Severe impact drive train buckles

under and directs engine under
safety cage

Door hinges and latches withstand

impact and resist opening under
collision

Reinforced doors with side intrusion

bars

Rear floor pan bends upwards to keep

intrusions away from the fuel tank

Rear absorption defuses energy with

controlled crumpling

Rigid floor pan transfers crash force

through vehicle and protects
passenger cage

A,B, and C posts support roof and

form top section of the cage

Rear bumper integrated into body to

help with impact dissipation and
absorption

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Monocoque construction uses specially designed and positioned frames

to absorb and distribute crash energy throughout the body

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Vehicle design must now incorporate safety features not only for the
passengers inside abut also for pedestrians impacting on the outside
Vehicle design must involve impact absorption in a number of different
directions

Frontal impact energy transferred through the frame around the cage
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Side impact strength resists crushing into cage but transfers energy
around it into the other body members
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Crumple zones are created by using panels that have of varying thickness
and shape to induce folding and bending at particular points

Panel compression is created in 3D computer software to determine

pressure and distance
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Panels fold at particular points and absorb energy as the collapsing takes
place

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Front side member deformation aids

By creating a crush initiator the designer ensures that when the front side
member contacts the opposing structure at the point where force is
introduced, namely the point of highest pressure, a conversion of energy
begins immediately and this shockwave begins to counter the speed of the
vehicle. When the pressure wave reaches the end of the rail, it is reflected
and rebounds from front to rear several times.
counter wave formation
frontal shock wave against
velocity wave of material

MASS
Area of high
impact pressure

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Front side member deformation aids

B
A

G
E
D

F
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Impact absorption is controlled by

panel shape and thickness.
The enclosed section with the
separators clearly shows how
panel deformation has occurred
during impact and slows the
speed of the vehicle while the
energy is directed and redirected
in the body sections.

36

Using crash testing facilities safe structures can be created to

absorb and transmit energy into the body structure.
Computer crashing allows simulations to reveal weaknesses and
where structures are prone to failure. It also enables designers to
add strength to the passenger cage only where necessary.

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Testing enables accurate data to collected as to how panels will react in

known circumstances.
Absorption of crash energy can be determined using crush sections or
deformation aids formed in the panel sections

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The research and development costs are huge, especially after all the
theoretical and computer generated tests have been completed, manufacturers
use real vehicles in the final testing stage.
This test undertaken by Mercedes to check the energy absorption of the small
smart car against the large family saloon.

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The odds seemed stacked against the automotive welterweight, partly

because of the enormous weight difference ratio of 1:2. The Smarts lack
of a protective long front end was another source of doubt before the
crash test began. Although the collision was to take place with both
contenders driving at a speed of 50 Kph.
The huge difference between their weights meant that the impact would
have very different results on each of them. For the heavy Mercedes,
the impact would be equivalent to crashing against a barrier at a speed
of 33 Kph.
The lightweight Smart, however, would have to absorb an impact
corresponding to a crash against a stationary barrier at a speed of 67
kilometres per hour - double the speed of the Mercedes.
The measurements carried out on the four participating test dummies
showed that potential occupants in the two vehicles would not have
suffered any life-threatening injuries. The passengers in the S-Class
would in all likelihood have walked away without a scratch, while the
passengers in the smart would have suffered bruised ribs, and the driver
would have also had some slight leg injuries.
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Crash simulators are used in the

final stages of crash absorption
development using controlled
tracks, vehicles can be forced into
barriers representing solid objects
and other vehicles with shock
absorbing capabilities.

By using crash dummies, potential

injuries can be monitored to all
passengers inside the cage.

High speed cameras are used to

record all actions during the
impact.

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42

Frontal impact is not always square

on and may involve objects that have
no impact absorption of their own.
This causes all vehicle momentum to
be absorbed by the vehicle, especially
when not all the vehicle crumple zone
is exposed to the energy force.
Unequal force such as this will require
the exposed crumple zone to account
for all the vehicle energy unless the
object being hit also has energy
absorption facilities.

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Side impact is major cause of head and chest injury and door strength is
important as well as being able to divert crash energy around the passenger
cage.
Door intrusion bars or braces are constantly be testing both using computer
simulation and actual vehicle testing.

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This graphic clearly shows how side intrusion is prevented by

transferring energy through the controlling sections in the floor pan and
leaving the passenger cage intact.

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Strength in the door frames is achieved by intrusion bars across the door
frame. Frame shape causes the exterior of the door skin to ride over the
pillar and keep the door shut under impact.
The door is foam filled between the steel frame and the trim panel which
helps absorb impact and protect the pelvic section.

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Some vehicles are more prone to occupant injury regardless of crumple

zones and side intrusion protection. Air bags and seat belt pensioners do
help but body design also allows these protection devices to mounted in
the most advantageous position.

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Smart and short!!

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