Friedman Keith, Hutchinson John, Mihora Dennis, Kumar Sri, Frieder Russell, Sances Anthony
Friedman Research Corporation, Goleta, CA, USA.
Biomed Sci Instrum. 2007;43:69-74.
Motor vehicle accidents involving pole impacts often result in serious head and neck injuries to occupants. Pole impacts are typically associated with rollover and side collisions. During such events, the roof structure is often deformed into the occupant survival space. The existence of a strengthened roof structure would reduce roof deformation and accordingly provide better protection to occupants. The present study examines the effect of reinforced (strengthened) roofs using experimental crash study and computer model simulation. The experimental study includes the production cab structure of a pickup truck. The cab structure was loaded using an actual telephone pole under controlled laboratory conditions. The cab structure was subjected to two separate load conditions at the A-pillar and door frame. The contact force and deformation were measured using a force gauge and potentiometer, respectively. A computer finite element model was created to simulate the experimental studies. The results of finite element model matched well with experimental data during two different load conditions. The validated finite element model was then used to simulate a reinforced roof structure. The reinforced roof significantly reduced the structural deformations compared to those observed in the production roof. The peak deformation was reduced by approximately 75% and peak velocity was reduced by approximately 50%. Such a reduction in the deformation of the roof structure helps to maintain a safe occupant survival space.
涉及电线杆碰撞的机动车事故常常会导致车内人员头部和颈部受到严重伤害。电线杆碰撞通常与翻车和侧面碰撞有关。在这类事故中，车顶结构常常会变形侵入车内人员的生存空间。强化车顶结构的存在会减少车顶变形，从而为车内人员提供更好的保护。本研究通过实验碰撞研究和计算机模型模拟来考察强化（加固）车顶的效果。实验研究包括一辆皮卡的驾驶室结构。在可控的实验室条件下，使用一根实际的电线杆对驾驶室结构施加负荷。在A柱和门框处对驾驶室结构施加两种不同的负荷条件。分别使用测力计和电位计测量接触力和变形量。创建了一个计算机有限元模型来模拟实验研究。在两种不同的负荷条件下，有限元模型的结果与实验数据匹配良好。然后，使用经过验证的有限元模型来模拟强化车顶结构。与量产车顶相比，强化车顶显著减少了结构变形。峰值变形减少了约75%，峰值速度减少了约50%。车顶结构变形的这种减少有助于维持安全的车内人员生存空间。
