Correlation of vehicle crash model parameters to car properties in low-speed collisions: a design of experiments approach

In the current study, a methodology for relating model parameters in a one dimensional Mass Spring Damper (MSD) model to global properties of a car, e.g. axial stiffness, bending stiffness and mass, is presented. It is shown that these three vehicle properties affect the vehicle's crash performance in low-speed collision tests used for industrial verification of bumper system performance. Based on information of the properties for a vehicle under development, parameters in the MSD model can be adjusted to give the correct boundary conditions for a finite element (FE) crash simulation with a candidate bumper design. In the FE simulations, the MSD model is then coupled to the FE mesh of candidate bumper design to find a bumper that meets the crash performance requirements of a car under development. The methodology is based on Design of Experiments (DOE) and FE simulations on a public domain model of a Ford Taurus. The knowledge gained from this study gives a valuable tool to use in design and development of bumper systems for the automotive industry.