Abstract
Improving passenger car damageability has been an important topic for RCAR council. Incorporation of new IIHS/RCAR barrier (Rigid bumper shaped barrier fitted with an energy absorbing material and cover) in ‘Bumper Structural Test protocols’ closely replicates the damage patterns observed in real world low-speed crashes. The new test protocols for RCAR with new deformable barrier addresses three components of bumper performance: Geometry, Stability of bumper and Energy absorption.
Inclusion of new IIHS/RCAR barrier impact (10kmph speed) along with 15kmph and 40% overlap (10 degrees angled) rigid barrier impact, for RCAR bumper test protocols, redefines the development of countermeasures for low speed damageability. Most common energy management solutions include crash cans and bumper beam, both made of thermoplastics or metals, may not exhibit good crush behaviour for real life accidents and for the new IIHS/RCAR barrier impact. System weight and cost are the factors, which limits the further tuning up these solutions.
In this paper a cost effective, lightweight, hybrid solitary beam solution is proposed with thermoplastics and steel, to meet RCAR impact requirements including new IIHS/RCAR barrier impact test protocols. The proposed hybrid solitary beam gives advantage of varied stiffness distribution along the vehicle width, and offers more design freedom to address vehicle under-ride and over-ride condition. Unique crash-cans are designed with thermoplastics and integrated to hybrid beam to meet corner protection requirements for RCAR ‘Bumper Structural Test’ protocols.
Keywords: Solitary beam, Hybrid Solution, RCAR Impact, Low speed crashes, IIHS/RCAR barrier