Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Engineering: Mechanical Engineering, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / The development and validation of reliable numerical modelling approaches is important for higher levels of aircraft crashworthiness performance to meet the increasing demand for occupant safety. With the use of finite element analysis (FEA), development costs and certification tests may be reduced, whilst satisfying aircraft safety requirements. The primary aim of this study was the development and implementation of an explicit nonlinear dynamic finite element based methodology for investigating the crashworthiness of a small lightweight fibre reinforced composite aircraft with occupants. The aircraft was analysed as it crashed into soft soil and the FEA software MSC Dytran was selected for this purpose. The aircraft considered for the purposes of this study was based on a typical four-seater single engine fibre-reinforced plastic composite aircraft. The definition of a survivable accident is given by Coltman [1] as: “an accident in which the forces transmitted to the occupant through his seat and restraint system do not exceed the limits of human tolerance to abrupt accelerations and in which the structure in the occupant’s immediate environment remains substantially intact to the extent that a liveable volume is provided for the occupants throughout the crash sequence”. From this definition, it was determined that the FEA models must primarily provide an assessment on the crashworthiness of the aircraft in terms of the structural integrity of the airframe to ensure a minimum safe occupant volume and the tolerance of humans to abrupt (de)accelerations. An assessment of other crashworthiness factors have been ignored in this study, such as post-crash hazards (e.g. fire) and safe egress for the occupants. Stockwell [2] performed a dynamic crash analysis of an all-composite Lear Fan aircraft impacting into concrete with the explicit nonlinear dynamic finite element code MSC Dytran. The structural response of components was qualitatively verified by comparison to experimental data such as video and still camera images. The composite fuselage materials were represented with the use of simplified isotropic elastic-plastic material models, and therefore did not account for the anisotropic properties of composite materials and the associated failure mechanisms. The occupants were represented as lumped masses; therefore occupant response could not be investigated. Malis and Splichal [3] performed a dynamic crash analysis of a composite glider impacting into a rigid surface with MSC Dytran; however further model verification was required. The 50th percentile adult male (occupant of average height and mass) Hybrid III anthropomorphic test device (ATD), also referred to as a crash test dummy, was represented in the analyses with the Articulated Total Body (ATB) model integrated within MSC Dytran. Various injury criteria of the ATB model were evaluated to determine the crashworthiness of the glider. Bossak and Kaczkowski [4] performed global dynamic crash analyses of a composite light aircraft crash landing. Representative wet soil, concrete and rigid impact terrains were modelled using Lagrangian-based finite element techniques and only the vertical velocity component of the aircraft was considered to simplify analyses. It was assumed that the previous use of only a downward vertical velocity component was a result of possible numerical instabilities which commonly occur with the use of Lagrangian solvers when considering problems with large deformations, which is a characteristic of crash analyses (i.e. the addition of a horizontal velocity component may result in severe element deformation of the soft soil terrain, resulting in premature analysis termination). Analyses of the occupant were performed in separate local models, using accelerations derived from the global analyses results. The real-time interactions between the occupant and aircraft therefore could not be investigated, which is considered a major disadvantage. Impact analyses of helicopters into water were performed by Clarke and Shen [5], and Wittlin et al. [6]. Both these papers showed promising results with the use of Eulerian-based finite element techniques to model the water. Additionally, combined horizontal and forward velocity components were assigned to the fuselages with success. It must be noted that the fuselages were modelled as rigid bodies; therefore the effect of structural failure on analyses could not be investigated. Fasanella et al. [7] performed drop tests of a composite energy absorbing fuselage section into water using Eulerian, Arbitrary Lagrange Eulerian (ALE) and Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) meshless Lagrangian-based finite element techniques to represent water. Successful correlation between experimental and numerical data was achieved; however, structural failure could not be modelled with the Eulerian-based finite element technique due to analysis code limitations at the time. A “building block” approach was used in this study to develop accurate numerical modelling techniques prior to the implementation of the full-scale crash analyses. Once the blocks produced satisfactory results in themselves, they were then integrated in order to achieve the abovementioned primary aim of this study. The sub-components (or blocks) were the occupant (viz, FEA of the human bodies’ response to impact), (FEA of) soft soil impact and (FEA of) fibre-reinforced plastic composite structures. This approach is intuitive and provides key understanding of how each sub-component contributes to the full-scale crash analyses. Published literature was reviewed, where possible, as a basis for the development and validation of the techniques employed for each sub-component. The technique required to examine the dynamic response of an occupant with MSC Dytran, integrated with the ATB model, was demonstrated through the analysis of a sled test. The numerical results were found to be comparable to experimental results found in the literature. An Eulerian-based finite element technique was implemented for soft soil impact analyses, and its effectiveness was determined through correlation of experimental penetrometer drop test results found in the literature. An investigation into the performance of the Tsai-Wu failure criterion to capture the onset and progression of failure through the layers of fibre reinforced composite laminates was conducted for an impulsively loaded unidirectional laminate strip model. Based on the results obtained, the techniques implemented for each sub-component were deemed valid for crashworthiness applications (viz. to achieve the project aim). Full-scale crash analyses of impacts into rigid and soft soil terrains with varying aircraft impact and pitch angles were investigated. Typical limitations encountered in previously published works were overcome with the techniques presented in this study. The aircrafts’ laminate layup schedule was explicitly defined in MSC Dytran, thereby eliminating the inherent inaccuracies of using isotropic models to approximate laminated composite materials. The aircraft was assigned both horizontal and vertical velocity components instead of only a vertical component, which increased the model accuracy. Numerical instabilities, due to element distortion of the terrain when using a Lagrangian approach, were eliminated with the use of an Eulerian soft soil model (Eulerian techniques are typically used to model fluids where large deformations occur, which is a characteristic of crash analyses). Structural failure was successfully implemented by coupling Lagrangian and Eulerian solvers. The ATB model allowed for the real-time interactions between the occupant and aircraft to be investigated, unlike previously where analyses of the occupant were performed in separate local models using accelerations derived from the global analyses results. The results obtained from the crash analyses provide an indication of the forces transmitted to the occupant through the seat and restraint system, and the aircraft’s ability to provide a survivable volume throughout the crash event. The explicit nonlinear dynamic finite element based methodology was successfully implemented for investigating the crashworthiness of small lightweight composite aircraft, satisfying the primary aim of this study. Chapter 1 provides a review of fibre reinforced composite materials, the finite element method (FEM), ATDs and associated analysis codes, human tolerance limits to abrupt (de)accelerations, and crash dynamics and environment. The review of the FEM initially focuses on the fundamentals of FEA and then on the features specific to MSC Dytran as it is used throughout this study. Chapter 2 discusses the development of suitable numerical modelling techniques at the sub-component level and the implementation of these techniques within the full-scale crash analyses. Chapter 3 presents and discusses the full-scale crash analyses results for three impacts into rigid terrain and three impacts into soft soil terrain with varying aircraft pitch and impact angles. The results obtained from the crash analyses provide an indication of the forces transmitted to the occupant through the seat and restraint system, and the aircraft’s ability to provide a survivable volume throughout the crash event. Chapter 4 provides a conclusion of the work performed in this study and highlights various areas for future work. / D

Since before the release of the Highway Safety Manual research has been indicating the need to incorporate mobility and control aspects to road safety analysis. The first part of this work developed and implement in an existing computational engine a signal timing optimization method that considers mobility, safety, and emissions measures simultaneously. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to provide insight on the practical effects and order of relevance of 20 key input variables. Mobility improvement performance usually coincides with emissions improvements, but sometimes at the expense of safety. The second part of this work investigated the relationship between hourly traffic density and crash rates on Brazilian expressways with different characteristics, based on a database containing over 20,000 crashes and more than 35 million traffic volume observations and. The resulting curves for urban expressways follow a U shape, with minimum values associated with LOS B to C, while the relationships for rural expressways were found to be continuously increasing, suggesting that low volume rural roads are safer than the higher volume ones. The analysis of other influencing factors revealed that nighttime conditions, weaving segments and urban multilane highways could be related to higher crash rates. The third part of the project extends the analysis to crash severity modeling, using an ordered response choice model. The framework that better fit this database led to the development of two different models: single-vehicle crashes (SV) and multiple-vehicle crashes (MV), since the factors that explain the severity of crashes varies widely between these models. For instance, guardrails and barriers proved to effectively reduce severity for SV crashes, for which run-offs are the most severe crash type. The unique database used in this study also allowed for an investigation of the influence of prevailing traffic conditions on crash severity, while still controlling for all other factors. The results suggested that multiple-vehicle crash severity is negatively related with traffic density, while single-vehicle crashes are more closely related to speed. The findings of this work have implications to policy and design decisions, and the produced equation could be incorporated to active traffic management (ATM) and HCM reliability analysis. / Desde antes da publicação do Highway Safety Manual, vários pesquisadores indicam a necessidade de se incorporar aspectos de operação de tráfego à análise de segurança viária. A primeira parte deste trabalho desenvolveu e implementou em uma ferramenta computacional existente um método de otimização de tempos semafóricos que considera medidas de desempenho de operação, segurança e emissões simultaneamente. Uma análise de sensibilidade foi realizada para produzir conhecimento sobre os efeitos práticos e a ordem de relevância de 20 variáveis de entrada principais. O desempenho da programação semafórica em termos de redução dos atrasos geralmente coincide com redução das emissões, embora às vezes às custas da segurança. A segunda parte deste trabalho investigou a relação entre a densidade horária de tráfego e as taxas de acidentes em autoestradas e rodovias de pista dupla brasileiras com características diversas, com base em um banco de dados contendo mais de 20.000 registros de acidentes e mais de 35 milhões de observações de tráfego. As curvas resultantes para rodovias urbanas seguem um formato em U, com valores mínimos associados aos níveis de serviço B a C, enquanto que as relações para as rodovias rurais são contínuas e crescentes, sugerindo que rodovias rurais de baixo volume são mais seguras do que as de maior volume. A análise de outros fatores revelou que condições noturnas, segmentos de entrelaçamento e rodovias de pista dupla convencionais urbanas estariam relacionadas a maiores taxas de acidentes. A terceira parte deste projeto amplia a análise para modelagem de severidade dos acidentes, usando um modelo de escolha discreta ordenado. A estrutura que melhor se adequa a esse banco de dados levou ao desenvolvimento de dois modelos diferentes: acidentes com um veículo e acidentes com múltiplos veículos, já que os fatores que explicam a severidade dos acidentes variam muito entre esses modelos. Por exemplo, defensas e barreiras se mostraram efetivas para a redução da severidade de acidentes com um veículo, para as quais a saída de pista é o tipo de acidente mais grave. O amplo banco de dados usado neste estudo também permitiu uma investigação da influência das condições de tráfego na severidade do acidente, em comparação com todos os outros fatores. Os resultados sugeriram que a severidade de acidentes de múltiplos veículos está negativamente relacionada com a densidade de tráfego, enquanto colisões com um único veículo estão mais relacionadas à velocidade. As descobertas deste trabalho têm implicações nas decisões sobre políticas e projetos de transportes, e a equação produzida pode ser incorporada à análise de confiabilidade do gerenciamento ativo do tráfego (ATM) e do Highway Capacity Manual.

The thesis deals with documentation of the most common types of damage of vehicles at low speed, so-called ‘parking manoeuvers’. An analysis of characteristic damage was based on tests published so far, the author’s own tests and an analysis of real insured events. The results of the author’s own tests are compared to the procedures of the insurance company in the cases of potential insurance claims. The output of this thesis is a comprehensive presentation of the results of the impact tests carried out by the author which serve for the use in the assessment of insured events.

In this thesis are solved the problematics of crash tests. It is focused primarily on front impacts with full or part overlap. In the introduction are described the best known methods used in forensic - engineering practice for determination of energy equivalent speed (EES). Exactly specified impact tests, which are part of passive safety, are being addressed by several organizations around the world. In the practical part of this diploma thesis are solved four frontal impact tests, which were documented with the participation of the Institute of Forensic Ingeneering BUT in Brno.. These impact tests were performed to capture and analyze the data, resulting in the deformation energy used for permanent damage to the vehicle. Subsequently, the EES parameters were set for each vehicle.

The diploma thesis deals with crash tests. Many international organizations specialize directly in conducting crash tests. Impact test simulates vehicle collision. The three most common test are front, side, and backstreets. The diploma thesis focuses on side conflicts. Side clashes are characterized by the fact that the first vehicle is damaged at the front and the second in the side. The measured data from these tests was evaluated to obtain the deformation energy consumed for permanent damage to vehicles. Deformation energy was calculated as equivalent to the individual speed of individual vehicles. EES values have been evaluated by various methods used in expert practice and compared. The impact tests were simulated to clarify assistance to experts in the analysis of traffic accidents.

The diploma thesis deals with basic test procedures conducted by companies Euro NCAP and RCAR. It focuses mainly on insurance impact and describes the creation of a model, simulation and crash on barrier. Moreover, it explores the influence of change of yield strength, thickness and hardening of material of energy-absorber on simulation of insurance impact, especially the amount of absorbed energy by energy-absorber.

The master thesis deals with a stress-strain analysis of the front crash structure of a race car by using the finite element method. The structure is loaded by an impact loading. This type of analysis belongs to the transient analysis so the explicit formulation of the finite element method is used. The LS-DYNA software was used for calculations. The goal of this thesis is to express the influence of the crash structure to the change of the car's kinetic energy as well as the amount of absorbed energy in case of frontal impact.

This master’s thesis is dedicated to Side Impact Crash Tests Measurement in company Skoda Auto a.s.. Thesis describes measuring chain devices of Crash Test Laboratory, and also transferring and assessment process of crash record. Main part of Thesis describes eligible acceleration transducer attachment to B-Pillar of a vehicle.

The main subject of this master thesis is the computational modeling of stress-strain analysis of the loaded front part of Toyota Yaris from the year 2010 using an explicit finite element method (FEM). The aim of this thesis is the assessment of resistance of the front part of the car (longeron) at the impact stress. This thesis describes the selection, editing, and creation of the computational model of longeron and simulation of the barrier collision. The objective of the thesis is to use a real vehicle, suggest modified longerons to be implemented in it, test various shape and material versions of the longeron and make their comparison.

This thesis presents four crash test of two cars, in which always a moving vehicle strikes with fully overlaid front part into the side part (cabin for passengers) of another stationary vehicle. Crash test were carried out to detect the impact parameters for use in the road accidents analysis. Experimentally measured data and the acquisition of documentation during crash tests were therefore analyzed in an appropriate manner in order to obtain relevant impact parameters. One of the main evaluated parameters was the deformation energy that has been used for the permanent damage to vehicles. In the forensic engineering practice for analyzing vehicle impacts is as a control parameter used EES (Energy Equivalent Speed), this parameter was counted according to measured values during crash tests.