AU2033 AUTOMOTIVE SAFETY

UNIT I INTRODUCTION
Design of the body for safety, energy equation, engine location, deceleration of vehicle
inside passenger compartment, deceleration on impact with stationary and movable
obstacle, concept of crumble zone, safety sandwich construction.
UNIT II SAFETY CONCEPTS
Active safety: driving safety, conditional safety, perceptibility safety, operating safety
passive Safety: exterior safety, interior safety, deformation behavior of vehicle body,
Speed and acceleration characteristics of passenger compartment on impact.
UNIT III SAFETY EQUIPMENTS
Seat belt, regulations, automatic seat belt tightener system, collapsible steering column,
tiltable steering wheel, air bags, electronic system for activating air bags, bumper design
for safety.
UNIT IV COLLISION WARNING AND AVOIDANCE
Collision warning system, causes of rear end collision, frontal object detection, rear
vehicle object detection system, object detection system with braking system interactions.
UNIT V COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE SYSTEM
Steering and mirror adjustment, central locking system, Garage door opening system, tyre
pressure control system, rain sensor system, environment information system

TEXT BOOKS
1. Bosch - Automotive Handbook - 5th edition - SAE publication - 2000.
2. J.Powloski - Vehicle Body Engineering - Business books limited, London - 1969.

REFERENCE
1. Ronald.K.Jurgen - Automotive Electronics Handbook - Second edition- McGrawHill Inc., - 1999.

UNIT I INTRODUCTION
Automotive Safety:
Automotive Safety has been defined as a state in which hazards and conditions
leading to physical, psychological or material harm are controlled in order to preserve the
health and well-being of individuals and the community.
Design of body for Safety:
Safety is considered to be an important factor in designing the body of a vehicle.
The top priorities are given to the safety of the passengers and the pedestrians. So the
vehicle bodies are tested for their rigidity and deformation during the crash tests. The
front and rear end of a vehicle body is designed in such a way that they take up the
energy in case of a collision, whereas, the passenger compartment or the shell is
reinforced so that it doesnt deform and physically harm the passengers inside the vehicle
during a collision. A designer should also give equal importance to the pedestrians as
well. Here, in order to reduce the risk of getting injuries to the pedestrian, the designing
of sharp edges in a vehicle body is avoided.
The following technical requirements must be met in interior and exterior body
design:
Mechanical functions (lowering of side windows, opening of the hood, luggage
compartment lid and sunroof, positions of lamps)
Manufacturability and ease of repair (gap widths, bodywork assembly, window
shape, protective molding rails, paint feature lines)
Safety (position and shape of bumpers, no sharp edges or points)
Aerodynamics (air resistance, dirt on the vehicle body, wind noises, ventilation
openings, windshield-wiper operation)
Optics (distortion caused by window type and slope, glare due to reflection)
Legal requirements (position and size of lamps, rear-view mirror, license plates)
Design and layout of controls (positions, shapes and surface contours)
Clear layout (parking)

Energy Equation:
The Kinetic Energy exerted on the vehicle during a collision is given by
E = (m m) v2/2
Where, m Total mass of the vehicle
m Moveable mass
Engine Location:
Front - Engine, Front - Wheel Drive:
The majority of light vehicles have the engine at the front of the vehicle with the
driving power being transmitted to the front wheels. In the arrangement shown in figure
the engine and transmission units are placed transversely at the front of the vehicle,
which means that they are at right angles to the main axis of the vehicle.

Fig. Typical front-wheel-drive arrangement

Some of the advantages claimed for front-wheel drive are:
Because the engine and transmission system are placed over the front wheels the
road holding is improved, especially in wet and slippery conditions.
Good steering stability is achieved because the driving force at the wheels is in the
direction that the vehicle is being steered. There is also a tendency for front-wheel
drive vehicles to understeer, which can improve driveability when cornering.
Passenger and cargo space are good because there is no need for a transmission
shaft to the rear axle.

Possible disadvantages are:

Complicated drive shafts are needed for constant velocity joints.
Acceleration is affected because load transfer to the rear of the vehicle lightens the
load on the drive axle at the front.
The turning circle radius is limited by the angle through which a constant-velocity
joint can function.
Front - Engine, Rear - Wheel Drive:
Until reliable mass-produced constant-velocity joints became available, the front
engine and rear drive axle arrangement shown in figure was used in most light vehicles.
In the layout shown in figure the engine is mounted in-line with the main axis of the
vehicle. The gearbox is at the rear of the engine and power is transmitted through the
propeller shaft to the drive axle at the rear. The gearbox, propeller shaft, and rear axle
make up what is known as the driveline of the vehicle.

Front

Prop. Shaft

Engine

Transmission

Drive Shafts

Rear

Fig. Typical front engine, rear wheel drive arrangement

The advantages of a front-engine rear-wheel drive arrangement are:
The front axle is relatively simple.
Acceleration and hill climbing are aided because load transfer to the rear of the
vehicle retains traction at the driving wheels.

Possible disadvantages are:

Reduced space for driver and front passenger because of the bulge in the floor
panel that is required to accommodate the gearbox and clutch housing.
The raised section known as the propeller shaft affects available space throughout
the length of the passenger compartment.
Long propeller shafts can cause vibration problems.
Rear Engine, Rear - Wheel Drive:
Figure below shows an arrangement where the engine is mounted transversely at the rear
with the drive being transmitted to the rear axle.

Drive Shafts

Engine
+
Transmission

Front

Rear

The advantages claimed for the rear-engine layout are:

Short driveline because the engine, gearbox, and final drive can be built into a
single unit.
A preponderance of weight at the rear of the vehicle gives improved traction
during hill climbing and acceleration.
Possible disadvantages are:
A tendency to over - steer.
Difficulty accommodating liquid cooling of the engine.
Difficulty accommodating the fuel tank in a safe zone of the vehicle.
Space for luggage is reduced.
Difficulty steering in slippery conditions.

Crumple Zones:
The Crumple Zone is a structural feature mainly of automobiles. They are
designed to absorb the energy from the impact during an accident by controlled
deformation. This energy is much higher than is commonly recognized. Typically,
crumple zones are located in the front part of the vehicle, in order to absorb the impact of
a head-on collision, though they may be found on other parts of the vehicle as well.
Function:
Crumple zones work by managing crash energy, absorbing it within the outer parts
of the vehicle, rather than being directly transmitted to the occupants, while also
preventing intrusion into or deformation of the passenger cabin. This better protects car
occupants against injury. This is achieved by controlled weakening of sacrificial outer
parts of the car, while strengthening and increasing the rigidity of the inner part of the
body of the car, making the passenger cabin into a 'safety cell', by using more reinforcing
beams and higher strength steels. Impact energy that does reach the 'safety cell' is spread
over as wide an area as possible to reduce its deformation.
When a vehicle and all its contents, including passengers and luggage are
travelling at speed, they have inertia/momentum, which means that they will continue
forward with that direction and speed (Newton's first law of motion). In the event of a
sudden deceleration of a rigid framed vehicle due to impact, unrestrained vehicle contents
will continue forwards at their previous speed due to inertia, and impact the vehicle
interior, with a force equivalent to many times their normal weight due to gravity. The
purpose of crumple zones is to slow down the collision and to absorb energy to reduce
the difference in speeds between the vehicle and its occupants.
Seatbelts restrain the passengers so they don't fly through the windshield, and are
in the correct position for the airbag and also spread the loading of impact on the body.
Seat belts also absorb passenger inertial energy by being designed to stretch during an
impact, again to reduce the speed differential between the passenger's body and their
vehicle interior. In short: a passenger whose body is decelerated more slowly due to the
crumple zone (and other devices) over a longer time survives much more often than a

passenger whose body indirectly impacts a hard, undamaged metal car body which has
come to a halt nearly instantaneously.
The sequence of energy-dissipating and speed-reducing technologiescrumple
zone - seat belt - airbags - padded interiorare designed to work together as a system to
reduce the force of the impact on the outside of the passenger's body and the final impact
of organs inside the body. In a collision, slowing down the deceleration of the human
body by even a few tenths of a second drastically reduces the force involved. Force is a
simple equation: Force = mass x acceleration. Cutting the deceleration in half also cuts
the force in half. Therefore, changing the deceleration time from 0.2s to 0.8s will result in
a 75 percent reduction in total force. 75, 211

Fig. Crumple Zone location in a Car

Deceleration of Vehicle inside Passenger Compartment:
A pick-up truck equipped with an air bag and belt restrained dummies was crashed
into a rigid barrier at 35 mph. Based on the test data, the ridedown and restraint energy
densities of the driver dummy can be computed. These test energy densities are then
compared with those computed from the simple model for validation.
Note Ride-Down Time: Child passenger safety advocates often stress the importance
of "ride-down time." This term simply refers to the time it takes for a person to come to a
complete stop in a crash. This is important because the total force on the passenger

increases with both the weight of the person and with the speed they were traveling
before the crash. On the other hand, the total force on the passenger decreases
significantly as the time it takes to stop increases. While we have often have no control
of the speeds involved in a crash, we can do some things to help increase the time it takes
for a passenger to come to a stop. As mentioned earlier, in a frontal crash the vehicles are
often traveling in opposite directions at high speeds. When they crash, both vehicles stop
very suddenly, in a small fraction of a second. Even a slight increase in this stopping
time can reduce the risk of injury considerably. This is perhaps the most fundamental
concept in keeping passengers alive in a crash.
The vehicle compartment and left-front dummy torso decelerations and
displacements from the test results are shown in Figs - 1 and 2, respectively. The vehicle
dynamic crush and maximum occupant travel (relative to vehicle) are 25.7 and 9.5
inches, respectively. The time of dynamic crush (tm) is 70ms, and the time of maximum
occupant deceleration (tg) is 63ms.

Fig 1. Test Decelerations of a Truck & Left Front Torso (dummy)

Fig 2. Test Displacements of a Truck and Left Front Torso (dummy)

The occupant restraint and ridedown curves can then be plotted. These are shown
in Fig - 3. Note that the plot of the restraint curve is based on the torso deceleration and
relative torso-vehicle displacement (torso travel). The restraint curve onset time (at zeroplus torso travel) is about 20ms, which is found from the torso and truck displacement
curves shown in Fig - 2. At 20ms, the chest deceleration starts picking up as shown by
the torso deceleration curve in Fig - 1, which is also Fig - 3 Test Restraint and Ridedown
Curves Fig - 4 Test Restraint and Ridedown Energy Densities reflected in Fig - 3. At the
same time, the ridedown curve starts picking up. At this time, the vehicle had crushed
about 12 inches already. Occupant ridedown starts from this point on until the vehicle
reaches a dynamic crush of 25.7 inches.

Fig 3. Test Restraint and Ridedown Curves

Fig 4. Test Restraint and Ridedown Energy Densities

Deceleration on Impact with Stationary and Movable Obstacle:

Majority of traffic accidents are either car to car or barrier type collisions
(impact due to objects such as bridge structures, large trees and solid embankments).
Effects of impact speed, vehicle weight and structural design are obtained with the
help of barrier type of collisions. The added advantage is that the barrier type collisions
can be controlled and carried out in the given space confinement.
Fully instrumented car to car collisions gives results of roll over studies,
occupant behavior, etc. The dis advantage of this test is that data obtained from these
tests were inconsistent when compared to the results obtained in barrier type of collisions.

Fig. Deceleration Comparison Car to Car and Barrier Crashes

The above figure compares the peak decelerations measure in the passenger
compartments during barrier and car to car collisions. In lower speed impacts, the
peak deceleration attained during the barrier crash is approximately twice the level
measured in the car to- car collision. With higher impact speeds the deceleration ratio
progressively increases. Car to car collision line is apparent while the barrier crash
tests yield good reproducibility. Because of this consistent data provided by barrier crash

tests, this can be used as a reference when comparing the effects of design changes and
the effects of special energy absorbing devices such as crumple zones.

Velocity graph for 15 mph barrier test:

Fig 1

Velocity graph for 20 mph barrier test:

Fig 2
Velocity graph for 40 mph barrier test:

Fig 3

Velocity graph for 50 mph barrier test:

Fig 4
All the graphs show the reduction in velocity (speed) of passenger compartment
on impact. For 15 mph and 20 mph barrier test, we can see that the velocity comes to
zero, crosses zero line, stays in the negative region afterwards. Velocity in negative
region means that the car is moving in opposite direction (i. e.) after the collision it
moves back.
But for 40 mph test, the velocity comes close to zero and lies in the positive
region. It means that after the impact, the car does not bounce back much, because most
of the energy of the crash is taken by deforming the body metal. But in 15 mph and 20
mph tests, as the speed is low, the kinetic energy to deform the body metal is also less
and hence the body metal does not deform and stands rigid. So, the car bounces back and
velocity is slightly in the negative region.
Sandwich Structure:
A sandwich-structured composite is a special class of composite materials that is
fabricated by attaching two thin but stiff skins to a lightweight but thick core. The core
material is normally low strength material, but its higher thickness provides the sandwich
composite with high bending stiffness with overall low density. Open- and closed-cellstructured foams like polyvinylchloride, polyurethane, polyethylene or polystyrene
foams, balsa wood, syntactic foams, and honeycombs are commonly used core materials.

The core is bonded to the skins with an adhesive or with metal components by brazing
together.

Fig. Diagram of an assembled composite sandwich (A), and its constituent face
sheets or skins (B) and honeycomb core (C)
Types of sandwich structures:
Metal composite material (MCM) is a type of sandwich formed from two
thin skins of metal bonded to a plastic core in a continuous process under
controlled pressure, heat, and tension.
Recycled paper is also now being used over a closed-cell recycled kraft
honeycomb core, creating a lightweight, strong, and fully re-pulpable
composite board. This material is being used for applications including
point-of-purchase

displays,

bulkheads,

exhibition stands, and wall dividers.

recyclable

office

furniture,

 To fix different panels, among other solutions, a transition zone is normally

used, which is a gradual reduction of the core height, until the two fiber
skins are in touch. In this place, the fixation can be made by means of bolts,
rivets, or adhesive.
Properties of sandwich structures:
The strength of the composite material is dependent largely on two factors:
The outer skins: If the sandwich is supported on both sides, and then stressed by
means of a force in the middle of the beam, then the bending moment will
introduce shear forces in the material. The shear forces result in the bottom skin in
tension and the top skin in compression. The core material spaces these two skins
apart. The thicker the core material the stronger the composite. This principle
works in much the same way as an I-beam does.
The interface between the core and the skin: Because the shear stresses in the
composite material change rapidly between the core and the skin, the adhesive
layer also sees some degree of shear force. If the adhesive bond between the two
layers is too weak, the most probable result will be delamination.
Advantages of sandwich structure:
The composite has considerably higher shear stiffness to weight ratio than an
equivalent beam made of only the core material or the face-sheet material.
The composite also has a high tensile strength to weight ratio.
The high stiffness of the face-sheet leads to a high bending stiffness to weight ratio
for the composite.