Increasingly stringent crash legislation and the drive to produce lightweight car bodies has promoted the extensive use and development of high strength steels. In this paper a number of material properties which are thought to contribute significantly to energy absorption in metallic materials will be highlighted. It will be shown that it is important to understand the relationship between strength and thickness in order to downgauge confidently. The increased dynamic stability exhibited by high strength steels will also be demonstrated. Finally, a brief example will be shown of how the collapse resistance can be increased through the simple manipulation of the joining process. The conclusion from the work is that to maximise energy absorption within a component, it is important to take into account the interaction of the material, the section design, the forming process and the final fabrication technique.
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