Technical Paper
Shed Light on Vehicle Structural Integrity
2019-04-02
2019-01-0857
The ability to validate design models is critical, especially when accounting for real-world operating conditions. Lightweight materials, such as plastics and carbon fibers, are becoming more prevalent throughout vehicles enabling greater fuel efficiency and safety standards to be met. These materials provide new challenges for validation, requiring more sensors and data to be understood. The use of high-definition fiber-optic sensing (HD-FOS) can provide the data density needed for verifying the performance of these new parts relative to the design intent. With its ability to provide up to 1000 discrete strain locations per meter of fiber, this measurement tool can serve as inputs into computer-aided engineering (CAE) models. Experiments test the ability of the HD-FOS system to make the necessary design measurements demonstrated on a truck under normal driving conditions.