Design optimization of a B-pillar for crashworthiness of vehicle side impact

Abstract

In this study, Hypermesh and Catia V5 software were adopted for finite element analysis (FEA) of a vehicle B-pillar. The design objectives were to optimise the B-Pillar such that the maximum displacement, weight, and maximum stress value of B-Pillar is minimised without compromising its yield strength and impact resistant properties. This is significant for the improvement of a vehicle's crashworthiness and ensuring the safety of passenger(s) during road accidents. This study initially analysed a given B-pillar design after being subjected to an even force of 140kN. The result produced von Mises stress of 1646MPa and deflection of 5.9mm. To ensure that EuroCAP directives were met, the BPillar was reinforced by adding extra steel plates to its inner surface and applying seam welding to ascertain their fusion and analysed using the same force of 140kN. Analysis of the reinforced B-Pillar design produced maximum von Mises stress of 673MPa with a maximum displacement value of 2.39mm. The optimised B-Pillar design was reinforced with 1.7kg steel plate with the overall mass of the B-Pillar amounting to 4.2kg of the total design compared to the original B-Pillar which had a total mass of 6kg. The optimised BPillar possessed less weight beside capable of resisting a force of 140kN with von Mises stress and displacement rate lower than the original B-Pillar. Thus, this indicates improvement in the tensile strength, stiffness, and impact resistant behaviour against collision forces by acting sideward on vehicles during road accidents. This can save such vehicles and passengers from severe damage that may result in loss of lives and properties. Hence, B-Pillar must be designed following the existing standards and tested before installation on vehicles to avoid unforeseen catastrophes.

Multi-objective crashworthiness optimization of vehicle body with negative Poisson’s ratio structure based on factorial analysis

“…The results showed that the intrusion displacement and intrusion velocity of the optimized B-pillar were effectively reduced, thus improving the safety of passengers. Ikpe et al 8 proposed a reinforced B-pillar by adding extra steel plates to its inner surface and applying seam welding to ascertain their fusion. Compared with the original B-pillar, the maximum von Mises stress and instruction displacement of the reinforced B-pillar have been decreased; Krishna et al 9 used the advanced high-strength steel for B-pillar structure to enhance the energy absorption performance.…”

Design Analysis of Reciprocating Piston for Single Cylinder Internal Combustion Engine

“…However, assuming this approximation is valid, the angular acceleration of the piston will be zero. According to Ikpe et al [14], Von-mises stress criterion helps in predicting the yield point of a material when subjected to complex loading conditions. The Von-mises failure theory states that a given material under the influence of forces is prone to failure if the Von mises stress resulting from the reaction forces exceed the material yield strength, but if the Von-mises stress value is less than the material's yield strength, such material still has the capacity to accommodate additional forces [15].…”

Design and analysis of displacement models for modular horizontal wind turbine blade structure

“…For normal uniformly distributed wind loading on the blade, the maximum deflection was modelled using Equation (2). The equation is a typical deflection equation of an elastic cantilever system under uniformly distributed loads [10]. Where P = wL, w is uniformly distributed load along the blade cross section.…”

“…where fe is the excitation frequency, fn is the natural frequency, is the damping ratio obtained from the logarithmic damping decrement given by Equation ( 9); = 2 (9) In conditions where the frequency of the excitation reduces significantly during operation, this can be expressed by the relation in Equation ( 10); = 2 (10) where designates circular frequency of the excitation, c is the local blade chord length and Urel is the local flow velocity relative to the blade section. Considering the time between amplitudes, the undamped ( ) and damped ( ) periods of vibration is given by Equations ( 11) and ( 12) respectively [14].…”