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Incompatibility between two colliding cars is becoming an important issue in passive safety engineering. Among various phenomena, indicating signs of incompatibility, over-riding and under-riding are likely caused by geometrical incompatibility in vertical direction. The issue of over-riding and under-riding is, therefore, not only a problem for partner-protection but also a possible disadvantage in self-protection. One of the possible solutions of this dual contradictory problem is to have a good structural interaction between the front-ends of two cars. Studies have been done to develop a test protocol for assessment of this interaction and to define criteria for evaluation but mostly in terms of aggressivity, which is a term describing incompatibility of a relatively stronger car. In this study, it was hypothesized that homogeneous front-end could be a possible better solution for good structural interaction.

In side-crash phenomena, finite element modeling is essential in investigating the occupant's post-impact dynamic behavior after contact with the door panels. A number of modifications have been made to the model described here based on combined simulation and experimental verifications of the dynamic and pseudo-static characteristics of different materials such as foam, damper and individual sub-assemblies. This report illustrates how the modified material and structural modeling of different components improve the accuracy of the overall dynamic behavior of the FEM model in simulating different HYGE experiments to speed up and optimize the vehicle design process. The rib-module drop test results with two different polypropylene pads clearly indicate the effect of the pad unloading characteristics on rib displacement.