Improving the load distribution in the automobile front collision zone by adding 's' shaped curved collision rail

Abstract

In this study, the performance of the front collision zone of the vehicle, reinforced with an S-shaped front collision rail, was compared to that of the classic straight front collision rail. In order to create a safe living cage in automobiles, half vehicle model was used and the collision performances of two different front collision zone models were compared. Torsion, bending and frontal impact scenarios were created with Hyperworks-Optistruct software to obtain versatile and continuous load paths in the vehicle. Vehicle front collision zone elements were designed with Siemens NX software based on the resulting load paths. Altair Hypermesh software was used to create the material properties, connection/contact zones and element mesh structures of the front collision zone components, and thus the preprocessing step was completed. Two different collision zone models were used to compare the collision zone with the classic arm and the one reinforced with the "S" shaped collision arm. The amount of energy absorbed by the collision zone components, the total displacement in the collision zone, the loads transmitted to the passenger cabin and the efficiency of the collision force (CFE) were obtained from each simulation.