Abstract: The crashworthiness during front impact and offset impact was numerically simulated with the vehicle body structure then improved to increase passenger-car safety. A Finite Element Method (FEM) was developed for passenger cars. The experimental methods of C-NCAP (China New Car Assessment Program) and software Hypermesh were used to simulate and analyze the crashworthiness performance, including the deformation sequence of components, the vehicle body acceleration, and the vehicle body invasion, during 40% offset impact and 100% front impact. The structures of some key energy-absorbing components were improved, such as the bumper absorbing box and bumper back-end, with the component strength being increased in the cabin part. The results after improvement show that the maximum intrusion decreases by 15.8% during the 40% offset impact, with the B pillar ensemble acceleration reduced during the 100% front impact.

Key words: passenger car safety, frontal impact, offset impact, numerical simulation, crashworthiness, vehicle body structure, bumper absorbing box