UNDERRIDE/OVERRIDE OF AUTOMOBILE FRONT STRUCTURES IN INTERVEHICULAR COLLISIONS-FINAL REPORT

ANALYTICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS OBTAINED IN A STUDY OF THE REQUIREMENTS AND THE PERFORMANCE OF REAR UNDERRIDE GUARDS FOR HEAVY VEHICLES ARE PRESENTED. A TOTAL OF TWELVE FULL-SCALE TESTS WERE CONDUCTED IN TWO PHASES. THE FIRST PHASE, CONSISTING OF SIX TESTS, USED A RIGID SIMULATED UNDERRIDE GUARD MOUNTED ON AN SAE BARRIER. THE SECOND SERIES OF SIX TESTS WAS PERFORMED USING PROTOTYPE UNDERRIDE GUARD DESIGNS MOUNTED ON THE REAR OF SEMI-TRALIER TRUCKS. THE EFFECTS OF IMPACTING VEHICLE SIZE AND WEIGHT, IMPACT VELOCITY, RIGID AND YIELDING UNDERRIDE GUARDS, AND UNDERRIDE GUARD GROUND CLEARANCE HEIGHT ARE AMONG THE PARAMETERS INVESTIGATED. DATA ON PERTINENT AUTOMOBILE AND TRUCK GEOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS AND ON VARIOUS ENERGY DISSIPATING SYSTEMS FOR POSSIBLE APPLICATION TO TRUCK UNDERRIDE GUARDS ARE PRESENTED AND DISCUSSED. ALSO, RESULTS FROM A COMPUTER MODEL OF VEHICLE COLLISIONS WITH AN UNDERRIDE GUARD THAT WAS APPLIED TO EXPLORE THE EFFECTS OF VARIOUS GUARD LOAD- DEFLECTION PROPERTIES ON VEHICLE IMPACT RESPONSE ARE DESCRIBED. RECOMMENDATIONS ARE GIVEN FOR UNDERRIDE GUARD REQUIREMENTS AND COMPLIANCE TEST PROCEDURES. THE FINDINGS FROM STUDIES AIMED AT REDUCING THE DAMAGING CONSEQUENCES OF HEAD-ON COLLISIONS BETWEEN AUTOMOBILES THAT RESULT FROM THE INCOMPATIBILITY OF THEIR FORWARD ENERGY ABSORBING STRUCTURES ARE PRESENTED. VEHICLE AND OCCUPANT DYNAMIC RESPONSES OBTAINED IN TESTS OF AUTOMOBILES IMPACTING AT CLOSING SPEEDS IN EXCESS OF 85 MPH ARE PRESENTED AND ANALYZED. THE EFFECTS OF THE WAVEFORM OF VEHICLE CRUSH PROPERTIES ON OCCUPANT INJURY POTENTIAL, AS DETERMINED FROM RESULTS OBTAINED FROM A COMPUTER SIMULATION OF THE CRASH VICTIM, ARE DISCUSSED. THE FORMULATION OF A COMPUTER SIMULATION OF IMPACTS BETWEEN BUMPERS OF OPPOSING VEHICLES IS DESCRIBED. RESULTS FROM APPLYING THE ANALYTICAL MODEL IN AN INVESTIGATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS FACTORS ON BUMPER UNDER/OVERRIDE PROPENSITY IN SIMULATED LOW-SPEED COLLISIONS ARE PRESENTED AND DISCUSSED. /AUTHOR/

• Corporate Authors:

  Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, Incorporated

  4455 Genesee Street
  Buffalo, NY  United States  14221
• Authors:
  • DeLeys, N J
  • Ryder, M O
• Publication Date: 1971-12

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 520 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crashes; Energy absorbing materials; Frontal crashes; Heavy vehicles; Information processing; Injuries; Motor vehicle bodies; Performance based specifications; Specifications; Speed; Underride guards; Underride override crashes; Vehicle dynamics; Vehicle front end
• Old TRIS Terms: Automobile bodies; Energy absorbers
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00224176
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 8 1973 12:00AM