Analysis of rollover behavior of SUVs in the early phase of chassis development

With increasing complexity of vehicle systems, the trends towards decreasing development time and requirements for reducing the number of prototype vehicles, virtual development starting in the early phase has gained significant importance. However, in chassis development of SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles), rollover stability as a significant aspect of vehicle safety has traditionally been ensured late in the development process, normally shortly before the SOP (Start of Production). Realizing the rollover risk at this phase, chassis design changes to ensure rollover stability have to be taken, which often impairs the preliminary design targets with respect to vehicle dynamics and ride comfort from the early phase. Therefore it is necessary to consider rollover behavior in the early stage.