• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.896-905
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• 2012

Recently, the application of the plastic material to automotive components and structures has steadily increased to satisfy demands on the saving of overall weight and the improvement of energy efficiency. The objective of this paper is to investigate the development of a bumper back-beam using a thermoplastic olefin (TPO). The bumper back-beam was designed to be manufactured from the injection molding process. In order to obtain a proper design of the bumper back-beam, three-dimensional finite element analyses were performed for various design alternatives. Stress-strain curves for different strain rates were measured by high speed tensile tests of the TPO to consider strain rate effects in the FEA. The influence of the sectional shape and the rib formation on the contact force-intrusion curves, the deflection and the energy absorption rate of the bumper back-beam was examined. From the results of the examination, a proper design of the bumper back-beam was acquired. The bumper back-beam consisting of TPO was fabricated from the injection moulding process and the vibration welding. Pendulum crash tests were carried out using the fabricated bumper back-beam. The results of the tests showed that the designed bumper back-beam can satisfy requirements of the federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS). Through the comparison of the previously designed bumper back-beam with the newly designed bumper back beam, it was noted that the weight of the designed bumper back-beam is lighter than that of the previously designed bumper back beam by nearly 16 %. In addition, it was considered that the newly designed bumper back beam can improve recycling of the bumper back-beam.

• Journal of Auto-vehicle Safety Association
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.37-43
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• 2012

The purpose of this research is to obtain and analyze dynamic responses from human volunteers for the development of the human-like mechanical or mathematical model for Korean males in automotive rear collisions. This paper focused on the introduction to a low-speed rear impact sled test involving Korean male subjects, and the accumulation of the motion of head and neck. A total of 50 dynamic rear impact sled tests were performed with 50 human volunteers, who are 30-50 year-old males. Each subject can be involved in only one case to prevent any injury in which he was exposed to the impulse that was equivalent to a low-speed rear-end collision of cars at 5-8 km/h for change of velocity, so called, ${\Delta}V$. All subjects were examined by an orthopedist to qualify for the test through the medical check-up of their necks and low backs prior to the test. The impact device is the pendulum type, tuned to simulate the crash pulse of a real vehicle. All motions and impulses were captured and measured by motion capture systems and pressure sensors on the seat. Dynamic responses of head and T1 were analyzed in two cases(5 km/h, 8 km/h) to compare with the results in the previous studies. After the experiments, human subjects were examined to check up any change in the post medical analysis. As a result, there was no change in MRI and no injury reported. Six subjects experienced a minor stiffness on their back for no more than 2 days and got back to normal without any medical treatment.