• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.929-934
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• 2012

This study was carried out to analyze the dynamic characteristics of laser tailor-welded blanks (TWBs) made of dissimilar materials. The analysis was performed using Hyper Works 10.0 with Solver LS-DYNA v.971. 2D-Shell was used as the modeling element, and the number of elements and nodes was 35,641 and 36,561, respectively. The impact speed was 10 km/h. To analyze the impact characteristics according to the height of the weld line for the upper and lower parts of the center pillar, the length of the lower part was set as 300 and 400 mm. When the lower part was made of SPFC980 steel with a length of 300 mm, the deformation was the smallest and the absorbed energy of the impact force was the largest. On based the lower part of center pillar, the position of TWB shows the shorter and the better value. In other words, the performance depended on the proportion of the upper part made of high-strength SABC1470 steel. A lower part made of SPFH590 steel showed large deformation. In contrast, a lower part made of SPFC980 steel showed significantly lesser deformation. Therefore, the impact performance of a lower part made of SPFC980 steel with a length of 300 mm showed the best analysis result.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.112-119
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• 2006

This paper is concerned with the light-weight design of a center-pillar assembly for the high-speed side impact of vehicle using advanced high strength steels(AHSS). Steel industries continuously promote the ULSAB-AVC project for applying AHSS to structural parts as an alternative way to improve the crashworthiness and the fuel efficiency because it has the superior strength compared to the conventional steel. In order to simulate deformation behavior of the center-pillar assembly, a simplified center-pillar model is developed and parts of that are subdivided employing tailor-welded blanks(TWB) in order to control the deformation shape of the center-pillar assembly. The thickness of each part which constitutes the simplified model is selected as a design parameter. Factorial design is carried out aiming at the application and configuration of AHSS to simplified side-impact analysis because it needs tremendous computing time to consider all combinations of parts. In optimization of the center-pillar, S-shaped deformation is targeted to guarantee the reduction of the injury level of a driver dummy in the crash test. The objective function is constructed so as to minimize the weight and lead to S-shape deformation mode. Optimization also includes the weight reduction comparing with the case using conventional steels. The result shows that the AHSS can be utilized effectively for minimization of the vehicle weight and induction of S-shaped deformation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.84-92
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• 2005

This paper is concerned with optimum design of a center-pillar assembly induced by the high-speed side impact of the vehicle. In order to simulate deformation behavior of the center-pillar assembly, simplified finite element model of the center-pillar and a moving deformable barrier are developed based on results of the crash analysis of a full vehicle model. In optimization of the deformation shape of the center-pillar, S-shaped deformation is targeted to guarantee reduction of the injury level of a driver dummy in the crash test. Tailor-welded blanks are adopted in the simplified center-pillar model to control the deformation shape of the center-pillar assembly. The thickness of each part which constitutes the simplified model is selected as a design parameter. The thickness of parts which have significant effect on the deformation mechanism are selected as design parameters with sensitivity analysis based on the design of experiment technique. The objective function is constructed so as to minimize the weight and lead to an S-mode deformation shape. The result shows that the simplified model can be utilized effectively for optimum design of the center-pillar members with remarkable saving of computing time.