Abstract
In most countries, including those of European Union, pedestrians constitute a significant proportion of all road user casualties. This is the reason why the European Commission has set itself the target of reducing the figure of fatalities by 30% and the injured pedestrian by 17%. And beginning in 2010 the entire EEVC test procedure or similar will become obligatory. So it is a huge challenge for car makers and tier 1 suppliers to make vehicles less injurious to pedestrian by preventing and reducing the severity of the collision.
This paper deals with numerical and experimental studies based on a current front end module. It shows how an efficient dynamic characterization of plastic materials permits to improve the simulation and the prediction accuracy through lower leg and upper leg tests. Focus will be made in the development of a plastic absorber dedicated to the upper leg protection, showing the new Front End Architecture and also the global methodology.