SIDE IMPACT PERFORMANCE OF STRUCTURALLY INTEGRATED SPACE FRAME DOORS

摘要

About 8,000 fatalities and 69,000 serious to critical injuries occur in side impacts every year in U.S. Severe head trauma and spinal cord injuries are directly related to the extent of penetration or intrusion into the occupant's space. In side impact crashes, lack of a strong side structure reduces the ability of the impacted vehicle to safely respond to the impacting vehicle or object. This structural weakness causes massive injuries to the occupant due to the excessive side intrusion. With the increasing number of larger and heavier vehicle such as SUVs on the road and the higher probability of being impacted by one, the need for side impact protective measures is becoming more critical. The main difficulty in designing for side impact collisions is the limited structure and energy absorption zone between the impacting vehicle and the impacted occupant. This paper discusses side impact occupant safety of space frame doors and their integration with vehicle body structure. The main objective is to explore the effect of space frame doors utilization on side intrusion and occupant response criteria. To study the effect, side impact crash tests of un-integrated and integrated space frame doors, with the vehicle body structure, are conducted.