Collaborative development of finite element models for Honeycomb crash test barriers: Crash / Volkswagen

Deformable barriers used in car crash testing are based on aluminium honeycomb blocks covered by aluminium plates. These structures, that largely deform and tear during crash tests, represent a challenge for the prediction by finite element models of the car structure deformations. This paper summarizes the barrier modelling efforts by ESI Group and a consortium of automotive OEMS over the past 6 years. After developing modelling concepts, the consortium has selected a specific concept, based on shell models of the honeycomb cores, to work towards industrial models, acceptable for daily use on car projects. The project has focused on accuracy of the rupture properties for adhesive, core and plate materials, and on keeping computing times within acceptable limits. While there are regular modelling efforts for new barrier hardware, the current trend is to make models increasingly robust, exhibiting coherent behaviour for user groups using different control parameters, or accommodating for hardware barriers variations. Besides modelling activity at ESI, test laboratories and consortium members have been supporting the developments with an extensive set of experiments, and feedback on the use of the models in car projects.