The Problem:
There is a national effort to develop
a vehicle that gets 80 miles per gallon--triple
the fuel efficiency of today's cars--without
sacrificing performance, utility, cost of
ownership, or the safety that consumers demand. To
achieve this goal will take a weight reduction
of 40 percent. That dramatic reduction requires
the use of lightweight metals, plastics, and
composites that offer new challenges for automobile engineers.
With core expertise in materials modeling and
parallel computing, ORNL has become a key contributor in several
automotive initiatives.
ORNL Solutions:
In collaboration with National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA), ORNL researchers are
developing detailed vehicle computational models. Already completed
are models of a sedan (Ford Taurus) and sport utility vehicle (Ford Explorer),
under development are models of an aluminum intensive vehicle (Audi A8) and
an ultralight steel vehicle, as well as several composite structures.
Vehicle models are combined with lightweight materials models and are
used to analyze material performance in a wide variety of impact situations.
Parametric FEMs are used to provide greater accuracy
with lower resource requirements.
Check it out:
Developing Validated Models for Crashworthiness Simulations
www.csm.ornl.gov/crash |
Models are obtained by first disassembling the
vehicle and then scanning the shape and measuring the mass and
inertia of each component. The Finite Element (FE) model is derived from the
geometric model by discretizing each digitized part using FEs and
connecting them into the final model. The separation of geometrical
representation from the computational FE allows for flexibility in
model modifications and the addition of complex constraints.
Models are validated by comparing simulation results with an actual
controlled crash.
Simulations are compared with test
data using high-speed films of vehicle collisions and traces
from accelerometers that are placed throughout the vehicles. In
addition, the crashed vehicles are disassembled and analyzed so that
the main mechanisms for the dissipation of impact energy can be
identified and quantified. Simulated crashes provide information
identical to what researchers could gain from actual crashes that cost
over $75,000 per crash. |
|
Crashworthiness Study of Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs)
 |
Objective:
Enable rapid generation of FEM models for wide spectrum of crash
situations, available computational resources, and desired accuracy
and simulation objectives.
Advantages:
Impact situation tuned accuracy.
Faster simulation time.
Simple model modifications and generation.
Simulation convergence can be evaluated.
Determination of the ``best'' model for specific simulation type.
|
 |
Collaborative Modeling Environment:
Remote users can access the model using Virtual Reality Modeling
Language (VRML) interface.
Users are able to analyze the model, modify it by changing the
provided control parameters, and generate new FEM models suited to
their specific simulation objectives. |
Crashworthiness Study of Ultralight Steel Auto Body (ULSAB) Structures
An alternative approach to lightweight vehicle design using advanced
steel processing and design technologies.
ULSAB utilizes new steel technologies such as high and ultra high
strength steels, hydroforming, tailor-welded steel blanks, steel
sandwich materials, laser welding, and applies them at
performance-critical regions.
ULSAB uses high strength steel and ultra high strength steel for more
than 90 percent of the body structure to improve structural
performance and save mass.
The advanced materials and processes enabled the design engineers to
consolidate functions in fewer parts, reducing ULSAB's part count to
96 major parts and 158 total parts, as compared with more than 200
total parts for an existing typical body structure in the same
class. Reduced part count leads to reduced tooling and assembly
costs.
contact: Srdan Simunovic |
Research Objective:
Perform a comprehensive computational analysis of the effects of
advanced material processing, forming and joining techniques on
performance of ULSAB vehicles.
The research addresses numerous material related effects, impact
conditions as well as analyze the performance of the ULSAB vehicles in
crashes against designs representing the current US vehicle
fleet.
|
Crashworthiness Study of Lightweight Aluminum Automotive
Structures
contact: Srdan Simunovic |
Objective
- Accelerate the development and introduction of aluminum intensive auto
bodies through the use of advanced computational simulations.
Crash Simulation Model
- Simulation platform for evaluation and prediction of effects of the
advanced manufacturing and materials processing techniques in
realistic automotive conditions.
- Assessment of aluminum related effects on vehicle design and
performance.
- Parametric modeling environment will allow for rapid model
generation and analysis.
- Model will be verified against Department of Transportation crash
tests.
|
Modeling of Composite Structures for Automotive Crashworthiness
contact: Srdan Simunovic |
In a collaborative project between the US Department of Energy and the
Automotive Composites Consortium, ORNL researchers are working with other
organizations to develop efficient finite element-based crush prediction
tools for analysis of light-weight fiber-reinforced composite structures
to enable economical design and manufacture of lighter, crashworthy vehicles.
|
ICE NOx Reduction R&D at ORNL
Internal combustion engines have been identified as the source
of one-third of pollution and ozone-depleting greenhouse
gases. With perspective from our
industrial partners and DOE, ORNL researchers are meeting the pollution and the
global warming problem head-on by using computational studies.
Catalytic converter modeling
 |
ORNL researchers have begun a project designed to develop and experimentally
validate a dynamic simulation model for automotive catalytic converters. This
massively parallel simulation model will require consolidation of existing
knowledge about the physics, chemistry, and nonlinear dynamics involved
in the gas-phase and catalytic surface regions of the converter.
contact: Bill Shelton
|
Intelligent Transportation System Data Bus
contact: Phil Spelt |
Every modern automobile relies on an onboard computer network with
increasing numbers of devices. Accommodating the electronic traffic
and managing to avoid signal gridlock are major concerns of
automobile safety experts. To address these concerns, ORNL researchers
are helping develop the intelligent transportation system (ITS)
data bus (IDB), a data-routing system, and the in-vehicle information
system (IVIS), an onboard information manager. ORNL will be doing
further research and testing using
a 1999 Dodge Intrepid with an IDB.
ITS Data Bus
|
In-Vehicle Information System
Stationary Pontiac T1000 simulator, used to test
IVIS prototypes. |
The IVIS project is a five-year effort funded by the
Federal Highway Administration, as part of the
Driver Vehicle Information Program. Using
advanced communications and computing
technology, an in-vehicle information system
(IVIS) provides a variety of information
management services intended to make the
complex task of driving (including both vehicle
control and route navigation) safer, more efficient,
and easier for the driver. IVIS is a key component of the Advanced
Traveler Information System (ATIS) program, which provides for
the delivery of a wide variety of en-route information to motorists
inside the vehicle.
IVIS project
|
