Abstract This work addresses a comparative analysis based on two finite element-based methodologies. The first methodology is constituted by a quasi-static procedure, established by Brazilian standard CONTRAN Resolution 755/2018. In this methodology, the FUP (Front Underrun Protection) device is discretized by finite element approach, and it is subjected to a concentrated force, applied at a specific point. The FUP device undergoes the inelastic process, and the equivalent plastic strain is evaluated. The second methodology is constituted by explicit dynamic contact modelling, a nonlinear analysis that considers the FUP device as a target body, while a vehicle as a moving body travels in different velocities. Beside, the numerical model adopted by second methodology is presented in detail, such as boundary condition and the finite element average dimension in the discretization. During the impact, the FUP device suffer a yielding process. The plastic strain, contact force and impact energy are assessed for both methodologies. The equivalent plastic strain indicate that the collision with vehicle colliding with the device with a velocity lower or equals to 30 km/h presents a similar result obtained by quasi-static procedure. However, for collision involving vehicle velocity higher than 40 km/h, the explicit dynamic contact simulation provides more reasonable results. Furthermore, the impact energy and force obtained by both methodologies indicate that the quasi-static procedure provides a value lower than those obtained by explicit dynamic contact modelling, indicating the assertiveness and applicability of contact modelling.
Cogo et al. (Wed,) studied this question.