Adaptive car buffer: the concept, design tools and perspectives

The general concept of design of adaptive structures (equipped with controllable energy dissipating units, so called structural fuses) is presented and the corresponding gradient based numerical design tools are described. This concept is applied to the design of a practical adaptive car buffer. the numerical simulation of the effect of its adaptation to various crash scenarios is demonstrated. High effectiveness of active impact energy absorption by adaptive structures demonstrates the potential of this adaptive crashworthiness applications