Inclined Impact Test and Computer Simulation of Front Rail 2014-01-0794

The design of front rail is very important to vehicle safety performance. The test and CAE analysis are commonly used methods for design on the component level. Based on experience of impact test designed to simulate the performance of rail in vehicle rigid wall frontal impact, an inclined test is designed to simulate the performance of rail in vehicle offset deformable barrier impact. Two LS-DYNA computer simulation models are established including the effects of plastic strain rate, spot-weld failure, and stamping hardening. The deformation and mechanical properties are studied. The simulation results are correlated to the component tests very well in both cases. The usual impact test and inclined impact test for component rail can represent the main features of the rail performances in the vehicle frontal impact and offset impact respectively. Both of the simulation method and the component test method can support the early stage design for vehicle crash safety.