International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)
e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 11 Issue: 08 | Aug 2024
p-ISSN: 2395-0072
www.irjet.net
Crashworthiness Analysis of Grid Patterns of Impact Attenuator for Formula Student Vehicle Akshai A S1 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering Trivandrum, Kerala, India
---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract – In case Formula Student vehicle, where the
are key requirements for energy absorbing pads in industries [3]. Albak et al. [2] conducted the study on standard IA foam.[4] conducted the study on crashworthiness of polyurethane foam for impact attenuator using FEA method.
design and manufacturing are primarily done by students, safety is given top priority. Impact Attenuator (IA) is one such structure, which is attached to the front bulkhead of vehicle to absorb the impact energy during the time of collision which ensures that the driver would be safe. Impact attenuator comes with several material and designs to absorb maximum energy with low level of deceleration. In case of material selection, aluminum is widely used to make IA, other material like impaxx 700 foam is also used to make light weight solid block impact attenuator. Safety of impact attenuator is validated by several criteria mentioned in FSAE rules. When aluminum is used for impact attenuators, the honeycomb structure is commonly employed because of its lightweight nature and exceptional energy absorption property due to its unique pattern. But there may be a chance that some other patterns could perform well than honeycomb and could employed in Impact attenuator. This paper focuses on FEA analysis of different type grid pattern and its effectiveness in energy absorption. The simulation is performed using LSDYNA software which is widely used in crash simulation.
Fig -1: Arrangement of impact attenuator IA is one such device which can be modified in wide variety of ways to improve performance. Laksmana Widi Prasetya et al. [5] designed crashworthy IA made from waste aluminium can based material. The experiment was conducted in both experimental and FEA method and found that cans with specific thickness and with proper arrangements can be used to make IA. [6] implemented a shoulder pattern in IA and studied its effects in anti intrusion plate. This is mainly conducted to avoid peak deceleration.[14], [15] studied the effect of composite materials to be used as impact attenuator. Attenuators also come with several shapes. For standard impact attenuator, it will be truncated pyramid with rectangular base, some forms elliptical shape with grids inside it. Most common IA which uses aluminium has several box structure attached one to other. Each designs provides its own significance during the crash. When it comes to material selection, apart from foam
Key Words: impact attenuator, honeycomb, plastic deformation, formula student
1.INTRODUCTION In automotive sector, ensuring safety during high impact collision is a major concern. This is likely to occur in competitions like Formula Student (FS). Impact Attenuator is one such device which is engineered to absorb energy during impact by undergoing plastic deformation, thereby reducing the force transmitted to driver, ensuring his safety as well as preventing damage to vehicle components. IA is positioned on front bulkhead, which is attached along with antiintrusion plate (Fig.1). Selection of material and design of impact attenuator must be done by engineering through specific requirements such as absorbing maximum energy, limiting peak deceleration experienced by the driver. The test condition as per [1] is in such a way that IA should be mounted on a 300kg vehicle and impacting a non yielding impact barrier with an impact speed of 7m/s. The deceleration should not be exceeding 20g average and 40g peak and the energy absorbed in this condition must meet or exceed 7350 J. For ease of access and use, most teams prefer to use impact attenuator made of foam material mainly impaxx 700 foam. Energy absorption and light weightness
© 2024, IRJET
|
Impact Factor value: 8.315
Fig -2: Using FEA method for IA impact model
|
ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal
|
Page 498