Search Results

Rollover tests are performed to design the algorithms for deployment of countermeasures to mitigate occupant ejection in rollover situations. The ditch fall-over test is one of the rollover test methods in which a vehicle on a steep slope, representing a ditch embankment, is subjected to a forced steering operation that results in a turnover. An accurate prediction method is needed to determine the specifications of the ditch fall-over test equipment and test conditions because a test-based trial-and-error process involves high cost of performing repeated experiments and preperation for various types of related test equipment. This paper presents a newly developed numerical simulation method for simulating vehicle behavior in ditch fall-over tests.

Vehicle's dynamic pre-crash state and associated occupant motion may influence the damage and injury of traffic accidents. Therefore it is important to simulate phenomena before and after impact continuously in order to analyze the damage mechanisms of traffic accidents. In this study, a finite element vehicle model that can simulate both running and crash is developed and verified by some experimental results, and the methods to speed up and stabilize computation that enable continuous simulation are developed and compared with conventional methods. A numerical example that simulates a real traffic accident situation is also shown.