VEHICLE DYNAMICS IN SINGLE VEHICLE ACCIDENTS-VALIDATIONS AND EXTENSIONS OF A COMPUTER SIMULATION

RESULTS OF THE SECOND YEAR OF A PROGRAM OF COMBINED THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ARE SUMMARIZED THAT AIMED AT THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANALYTICAL MEANS OF STUDYING THE ENERGY CONVERSION CHARACTERISTICS OF ROADSIDE TERRAIN FEATURES AND OBSTACLES. THE REPORT OF THE RESEARCH CONSTITUTES ONE PART OF A BUREAU OF PUBLIC ROADS PROGRAM AIMED AT REDUCING THE INCIDENTS OF INJURY-PRODUCING ACCIDENTS THAT OCCUR IN COLLISIONS BETWEEN SINGLE VEHICLES AND FIXED OBJECTS ON OR NEAR THE ROADWAY. A COMPUTER SIMULATION OF THE DYNAMICS OF SINGLE VEHICLE ACCIDENTS IS VALIDATED BY MEANS OF COMPARISON OF THE MODEL PREDICTIONS OF VEHICLE RESPONSES WITH MEASURED RESULTS FROM A SERIES OF FULL-SCALE EXPERIMENTS. EXCELLENT CORRELATION IS ACHIEVED FOR A VARIETY OF VIOLENT MANEUVERS, MOST OF WHICH INCLUDE SIMULTANEOUS RIDE AND CORNERING RESPONSES. THE TEST PROCEDURES AND INSTRUMENTATION OF THE FULL-SCALE EXPERIMENTS ARE DESCRIBED IN DETAIL. PROPERTIES AND DIMENSIONS OF THE TEST VEHICLE, AS MEASURED BY THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY UNDER A SUBCONTRACT, AND TIRE PROPERTIES, AS MEASURED AND MADE AVAILABLE BY THE GENERAL MOTORS ENGINEERING STAFF, ARE SUMMARIZED. AN AUXILLIARY COMPUTER-GRAPHICS PROGRAM THAT PRODUCES PERSPECTIVE DISPLAYS OF THE SIMULATED VEHICLE AND TERRAIN FEATURES, OR OBSTACLES, IS BRIEFLY DESCIRBED AND SAMPLE DISPLAYS ARE PRESENTED. THE RESULTS OF FEASIBILITY STUDIES OF CLOSED-LOOP CONTROL OF THE SIMULATED VEHICLE, EXTENSION OF THE GENERALITY OF SPRUNG MASS IMPACT CAPABILITIES, AND APPLICATION OF THE SIMULATION TO THE TASK OF ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION ARE DISCUSSED. A SPECIALIZED VERSION OF THE VEHICLE SIMULATION THAT IS BEING DEVELOPED FOR USE IN STUDIES OF THE DETAILED DYNAMICS OF BRAKING IS DESCRIBED. SINCE REFINEMENTS AND MINOR CORRECTIONS HAVE BEEN INCORPORATED IN THE COMPUTER SIMULATION DURING THE COURSE OF THE VALIDATION STUDY, THE PRESENT REPORT INCLUDES UPDATED VERSIONS OF THE MATHEMATICAL MODEL DESCRIPTION AND OF THE EQUATIONS AND LOGIC THAT APPEARED IN AN EARLIER REPORT. /BPR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Bj-2251-v-3, CPR 11-3988
• Corporate Authors:

  Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, Incorporated

  4455 Genesee Street
  Buffalo, NY  United States  14221

  New York State Department of Transportation

  1220 Washington Avenue
  Albany, NY  United States  12232

  Bureau of Public Roads /US

  400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • MCHENRY, R R
  • DeLeys, N J
• Publication Date: 1968-12

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Computer programs; Crash injury research; Energy conversion; Mathematical models; Simulation; Single vehicle crashes; Vehicle dynamics
• Uncontrolled Terms: Fixed object
• Subject Areas: Energy; Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222575
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Bureau of Public Roads /US
• Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Oct 28 1994 12:00AM