WG4 Material technologies & vehicle structural crashworthiness

The Working Group 4 is led by IFAM and co-led by Concept Technologie. The work is structured by a multiple stage approach, which has been initiated at the start by an inventory report on advanced materials and structures as well as simulation and testing of the latter. An overviewis being prepared of currently running projects on European and national scale with respect to development and characterisation of advanced structural materials for automotive applications, development and characterisation of advanced energy absorbing materials as well as structures based on these and the former, and simulation and testing of the same. Specific attention are paid to emerging technologies, e.g. in the field of adaptive structures.

Task Forces (TF) have been set up around specific topics of interest. The following topics for six Task Forces have been created reflecting the current status of the research field as described in the introduction:

TF1 Testing and Test Methods: to evaluate the current situation in materials and component testing with a specific focus on testing under conditions of dynamic loads.

TF2 Compatibility among Vehicles and Vehicles and Safety Barriers: to analyse the current situation in road traffic with respect to compatibility in terms of geometry as well as other characteristics like stiffness, and to devise suggestions for means to overcome the compatibility problem.

TF3 Integration of Research Programmes on Metallic and Composite Materials: to provide an overview of the current knowledge on crash-relevant properties of composite and metallic materials and to deliver data input for the materials and material models database to be realised in workpackage 3.

TF4 Integration of Research Programmes on Advanced Energy Absorbing Materials: to provide an overview of the current knowledge on design- and crash-relevant properties of energy absorbing materials and to deliver data input for the materials and material models database to be realised in work package 3.

TF5 Adaptive Structures: to identify state of the art and candidate material and structural solutions with respect to introduction of adaptive structures for enhanced crashworthiness and compatibility, and to evaluate the influence of such new components on testing, including virtual testing, as well as a possible impact on regulations.

TF6 Materials Behaviour and System Reaction: to investigate descriptions of load path mechanisms rather than isolated materials behaviour and development of procedures leading from suitable materials data to knowledge of system behaviour.

For more information on this working group, please contact its leader: Mr Dirk Lehmhus (IFAM)