Experimental Testing of Energy-Absorbing Structures Used to Enhance the Crashworthiness of the Vehicles

Abstract

Selected structures intended to absorb impact energy have been analysed in respect of their use in the rear underrun protective devices (RUPD) of motor trucks. The main purpose of the RUPD is to prevent a passenger car from running under the rear of a motor truck provided with such a device. From the point of view of the safety of the car occupants, it is important to take into account the components whose additional role would be to absorb a part of the impact energy so that the loads on the said occupants were minimised. This article presents experimental test results concerning selected energy-absorbing structures. Based on quasi-static strength tests, simplified material models were defined. As a result of experimental crash tests, the possible applications of selected energy absorbers to the RUPDs as their components accountable for the passive safety of passenger cars were indicated. Absorbers proposed in this paper can be considered effective energy-absorbing structures, e.g., in the case of the central impact of a medium-class car with a speed of about 40 km/h. They are relatively inexpensive in production and easily implementable to motor trucks, even taking into account some limitations related to the type-approval regulations on the European market.