Crashworthiness Research Based on Lightweight Bus of Honeycomb Sandwich Body

To enhance the lightweight design and structural safety of electric buses, this study focused on optimizing the chassis stress‐bearing beam structure for frontal impacts and applying honeycomb sandwich materials to the bus body structure, particularly for improving rollover crashworthiness. High‐speed tensile and compression tests were performed to characterize the dynamic mechanical behavior of key materials, and the resulting data were used to develop high‐fidelity material models. These models significantly improved the accuracy and reliability of the simulations. The optimized structural design was validated through physical testing, confirming compliance with both frontal and rollover safety standards. Compared to conventional steel or aluminum body structures, the use of honeycomb sandwich materials resulted in a weight reduction of approximately 500 kg. Notably, the honeycomb sandwich structure played a critical role in maintaining structural stability and occupant survival space during rollover events. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of honeycomb sandwich materials in achieving lightweight and crashworthy designs for electric bus.