Crashworthness Assessment of Front Side Members in an Auto-Body Considering the Fabrication Histories

Abstract

This paper is concerned with crashworthiness of auto-body members considering the effect of fabrication. Most auto-body members are fabricated with sheet metal forming process and welding process that induce fabrication histories such as the plastic work hardening, non-uniform thickness distribution and residual stress. Crash simulation is carried out for auto-body members with LS-DYNA3D in order to identify the fabrication effect on the crashworthiness. The analysis calculated crash mode, the reaction force and the energy absorption for crashworthiness assessment with the forming effect. The result shows that the crash analysis with considering the forming history leads to a different result from that without considering the forming effect. The analysis results demonstrate that the design of auto-body members should be carried out considering the forming history for accurate assessment of the crashworthiness.