Abstract: Bumper low-speed structural crash tests proposed by Research Council for Automobile Repairs
(RCAR) were added to the official insurance level assessment programs by European Commission in January
2011. Bumper low-speed crash was simulated for a real sports utility vehicle (SUV) to analyze the effects of
the new RCAR tests on the insurance rating evaluation adopting Oasys and Hypwork software tools, the test
and evaluation methods of RCAR, and the design concept for vehicles in low speed crash. The results show
low stiffness of the bumper beam with the absence of underpins between the bumper and the bumper beam
resulting in poor support in the crash. Barrier’s deformable section center line does not align with the bumper
beam center line, which induces heavy damage and reduces the vehicle insurance rating. Some measures are
given to perfect vehicle passive security.

Key words: automotive engineering, passive security, impact, Research Council for Automobile Repairs
(RCAR), bumper, low speed crash, simulation analysis