Influence of Vehicle Front Structure on Compatibility of Passenger Car-to-SUV Frontal Crash

Front structure of vehicle is one of the major factors which influence compatibility in vehicle-to-vehicle frontal crash. However, the influence of vehicle front structure with different overlap ratios has not well studied yet. Based on the simulation results of a small car to an SUV frontal crash, the compatibility was investigated in terms of the vehicle frontal stiffness and geometry height with different overlap ratios. The amount of the intrusion of the small car was chosen as the parameter for evaluating compatibility performance. Simulation of vehicle-to-vehicle crash in conditions of different stiffness, geometry height and overlap ratio were developed by using LS-DYNA. From the simulation results, it can be found that the influences of the frontal stiffness and geometry height on the compatibility are discrepant at different overlap ratios. The compatibility performance of the two vehicles could be improved by controlling the front stiffness and geometry height reasonably.