Study about vehicle safety regulations for frontal impact

• Grant number: 13/19649-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2013
• End date: April 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Larissa Driemeier
• Grantee: Stephanie Fernandes Scortecci
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Frontal impact tests are the most important in the development a new vehicle, since it is responsible for more than 50% of accident deaths. Currently, for the approval of a new car, the standards in developed countries, non-government institutions as NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) and the recent Brazilian standard are quite rigid about performance criteria during frontal impact. Safety, however, is related to two opposite effects in an accident: deformation of the cabin, measured by intrusion into the cabin, and deceleration experienced by occupants according to the duration and amplitude of the crash pulse. None of these standards includes these two effects simultaneously. Therefore, this study aims to examine the standards and their performance criteria. The selected standards were: Brazilian, European and American. All will be confronted with the rules of the non-governmental agency NCAP, the strictest one. In addition, consequences of the differences in performance criteria will be discussed in the light of sensibility virtual analysis.