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The accurate prediction of burst of hydroformed tubes is a research area of considerable importance in order to evaluate a design before prototyping. This report applies the presently available criteria (forming limit diagram, stress-based forming limit diagram, extended stress based forming limit curve and the plastic strain criterion) to some of the benchmark examples carried out by the Auto/Steel partnership. It was found that the formability predictions are lowest if the plastic strain criterion is used and highest if either the stress-based criteria are used. Predicted and measured results were also compared.

A test program was conducted to characterize the impact response of an experimental 2-ply windshield construction with a polyurethane (PUR) plastic inner layer. Windshield impact tests were conducted using a linear impactor test facility. Principle among the findings was that the impact response of prototype PUR 2-ply windshields does not differ that significantly from that of baseline 3-ply HPR (High Penetration Resistance) windshields for the subcompact vehicle geometry tested. However, the impact responses of both PUR 2-ply and 3-ply HPR subcompact vehicle windshields were found to be highly variable. Average performance of either construction could thus be enhanced if ways could be found (and then implemented) to reduce this variability.