The ability of flexible car bonnets to mitigate the consequences of frontal impact with pedestrians

摘要

The paper presents the results of numerical research on a vehicle representing a Toyota Yaris passenger sedan hitting a pedestrian. A flexible car body is suggested as an interesting way to increase safety. The authors present a simple low-cost bonnet buffer concept that may mitigate the effects of frontal impact. Computer simulation was the method chosen to solve the problem efficiently. The Finite Element Method (FEM) implemented in the LS-DYNA commercial code was used. The testing procedure was based on the Euro NCAP protocol. A flexible bonnet buffer shows its usefulness in preventing casualties in typical accidents. In the best scenario, the HIC15 parameter is only 380 when such a buffer is installed. In comparison, an accident involving a car without any protection produces an HIC_(15) of 970, which is very dangerous for pedestrians.