Lightweight Structures B.V.
Rotterdamseweg 380
2629 HG DELFT
The Netherlands
Tel +31 15 278 20 99
Fax +31 15 278 72 99
aldert.verheus@lightweight-structures.com
Chamber of commerce nr 27280593
Rotterdamseweg 380
2629 HG DELFT
The Netherlands
Tel +31 15 278 20 99
Fax +31 15 278 72 99
aldert.verheus@lightweight-structures.com
Chamber of commerce nr 27280593
| Composite crash cones for trucks |
Composite crash cones for trucks  The Crash-Safety Research Centre of TNO and Lightweight Structure B.V. have carried out a joint project with Volvo Truck Corporation (Sweden) investigating the feasibility of boosting the energy absorption characteristics of front underrun protection systems for trucks. A part of the project was an actual crash test. The aim of the test was to see how effective the energy absorption system would be in lessening the severity of injuries inflicted on car occupants in car-to-truck frontal collisions. The test, performed at TNO's facilities in Delft, involved crashing a Volvo 850 passenger car travelling at 70 km/hour into the front of a Volvo FH12 truck fitted with an energy absorbing front underrun protection system. The energy absorption system under evaluation consisted of a series of composite crash cones that had been arranged in a special configuration to give optimum performance (the orange structures of the picture). A previous crash test also involved a Volvo 850 passenger car and a Volvo FH12 truck, but, this time, the truck was fitted with a rigid front underrun protection device and the speed at impact was 56 km/hour which speed is considered to be the limit for survivability of car occupants. The result of the project was that by adding energy absorbing composite cones to the front underrun protection system, the limit of survivability can be raised to a speed at impact of 70 km/hour. TNO and Lightweight Structures B.V. co-operated in designing the energy absorbing front underrun protecting system and in modelling the crash characteristics of the cones and the system. Lightweight Structures B.V. designed and manufactured the composite crash cones (both SMC and GMT materials). A future development could be the integration of the system in truck structures. |