Analysis of bus rollover protection under legislated standards using LS-DYNA software simulation techniques

A bus rollover is one of the worst vehicle accidents that can occur. Because of the large numbers of passengers, the casualties in a bus rollover are often high and severe. The compliance with rollover safety standards for buses and coaches is mandated by law. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the physical meanings of regulation number 66 of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE R66) and standard number 220 of the American Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS 220). This comparison was carried out using a LS-DYNA finite-element analysis. After performing a comparative analysis following ECE R66 and FMVSS 220 assessments, the investigation further demonstrated the distortion configuration of the vehicle superstructure through the absorbed energy and its distribution over the vehicle and in sections of vehicle superstructure as well as the violation of the passenger compartment under the rollover testing conditions of both ECE R66 and FMVSS 220. Great differences were found between ECE R66 and FMVSS 220 in distortion configuration, reflecting differences in capability and rollover testing conditions. These findings provide a means of evaluating bus superstructure strength and provide guidelines useful in the assessment of regulations applied to the evaluation of bus rollover strength.

[1]  D Kecman,et al.  THE EFFECT AND MODELLING OF 'FINITE STIFFNESS HINGES' IN THE COLLAPSE ANALYSIS OF ROLL-OVER SAFETY RINGS IN BUSES AND COACHES , 1990 .

[2]  Luis Castejon,et al.  Simulation and Testing of Composite Buses Roll Over , 2004 .

[3]  Jerry I. Lin,et al.  Explicit algorithms for the nonlinear dynamics of shells , 1984 .

[4]  James C. Anderson.  Rollover crashworthiness of a new coach structure , 2000 .

[5]  Yu-Cheng Lin,et al.  Structural Design Optimization of the Body Section Using the Finite Element Method , 2006 .

[6]  Wolfgang Schwartz,et al.  Simulations with LS-DYNA for Registration Approval of a Coach according to ECE R66 Regulation , 2004 .

[7]  Aleksandar Subic,et al.  Improving bus rollover design through modal analysis , 1997 .

[8]  Mátyás Matolcsy.  Body Section Rollover Test as an Approval Method for Required Strength of Bus Superstructures , 2001 .

[9]  Giovanni Belingardi,et al.  MULTIBODY ANALYSIS OF M3 BUS ROLLOVER: STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOUR AND PASSENGER INJURY RISK , 2003 .

[10]  J. M. Kennedy,et al.  Hourglass control in linear and nonlinear problems , 1983 .

[11]  J C Brown.  THE DESIGN AND TYPE APPROVAL OF COACH STRUCTURES FOR ROLL-OVER USING THE CRASH-D PROGRAM , 1990 .

[12]  Mehmet A. Guler,et al.  The influence of seat structure and passenger weight on the rollover crashworthiness of an intercity coach , 2007 .

[13]  Peter E. McHugh,et al.  Comparison of the implicit and explicit finite element methods using crystal plasticity , 2007 .

[14]  Giovanni Belingardi,et al.  Coach Passenger Injury Risk During Rollover: Influence of the Seat and the Restraint System , 2005 .

[15]  M Matolcsy.  DEVELOPMENT POSSIBILITIES IN RELATION TO ECE REGULATION 66 (BUS ROLLOVER PROTECTION) , 1998 .

[16]  S.-J. Park,et al.  Rollover analysis for the body section structure of a large bus using beam and non-linear spring elements , 2008 .

[17]  Jordi Arbiol,et al.  Development of Rollover-Resistant Bus Structures , 1997 .