Pedestrians´ protection

CAE development of a car body to optimise its design to avoid or minimise pedestrian injury in a potential collision.


Timeline

2012-2023

Sector

Automotive

Scope

CAE development of the car body in terms of protecting pedestrians
PDF

BACKGROUND

Using the CAE (Computer Assisted Engineering) development capability, since 2012 SOLUTE has been participating in the designing of the bodies of new cars with the required pedestrian protection that optimises traffic safety by minimising any possible injuries suffered by pedestrians in the event of an impact. This is achieved using FEM (Finite Element Method) simulation tools, which allow streamlining and lowering the cost of case study evaluations compared to the cost of building and testing actual prototypes.

CAE development of the car body is used to optimise, through the use of tools based on the Finite Elements Modelling (FEM) simulation method, the design of the car body to meet pedestrian protection requirements and thus prevent or minimise the injuries caused during an impact.

According to international regulations like ECE directives R-127.03 / GTR No.9, EuroNCAP or Chinese regulations (C-NCAP, C-IASI), the designs of the exterior parts of the vehicles concerning traffic safety are certified and validated in the case of accidents involving pedestrians. Manufacturers must comply with the requirements set by the specific pedestrian protection regulations of each market and must certify their products in those countries in order to be authorised to market them there, which is why this discipline is so important in the process of developing a new car.


RESULTS

The CAE development of the car body allows, in terms of pedestrian protection, to obtain an optimal design of the parts involved in these impacts and which make up the vehicle, by means of a FEM simulation in order to not have to carry out this task by building prototypes and conducting tests, which are very expensive as well as time consuming. The CAE development allows streamlining the development of car bodies and obtains, with a high degree of reliability, a design that meets the technical requirements that are stipulated in traffic safety regulations and protocols. 

EXPERIENCE

SOLUTE has more than ten years of experience in the automotive sector and since 2012 it has been participating in the development of 14 different vehicle models, of varied types: utility, SUV, hybrid or electric. Our involvement takes place from the early stages of development to the validation of vehicles manufactured in series.

The obtained results are thoroughly analysed using specific post-processing tools such as ANSA (BetaCAE) or ANIMATOR, automating processes through the development of scripts.

METHODOLOGY

The baseline input is the exterior design of the vehicle, which is used to develop all the different parts using CAD (Computer Assisted Design) tools. These 3D designs are transformed into finite elements models using pre-processing tools such as ANSA (BetaCAE) in order to simulate pedestrian protection load cases, which are defined based on the regulation. The aim is to check all the potential points of impact according to the size of the person (height, weight, etc.) and the different factors that are to be taken into account like the speed, angle or the crash zone. To do this, we must divide the human body into the three parts that are more prone to being injured in the event of a run-over.

Using advanced CAE computational software based on an explicit type of finite elements simulation such as PAMCRASH (ESI), these cases are defined and calculated to obtain the different bio-mechanical parameters that must be analysed, such as the deformation of bones or ligaments or the acceleration of the head, to evaluate if they are within the proper impact protection values.

The obtained results are thoroughly analysed using specific post-processing tools such as META (BetaCAE) or ANIMATOR, automating processes through the development of scripts that allow analysing the large number of results that are generated and thus optimise the time.

These results are recorded and provided to the customer in a detailed report, where a detailed description of all the causes of the impact is provided, safety recommendations are proposed and the conclusions obtained in the analysis are shared. Also, when required, changes will be made to the design until all the objectives are met and optimisations are analysed in order to always find the best possible solution.

Software

Data processing and analysis

Technical capacity to tackle data processing and analysis projects of the most varied types, from the processing of monitored signals to the automation of business reports and Business Intelligence or BI.

Wind

Structural components´ fatigue analysis

Evaluation of elements subjected to cyclic loads of varying magnitudes to assess whether they can survive without collapse for a specified time.