Effect of foam application in bus structure for conservation of residual space during rollovers

Rollovers are complex crashes that have serious consequences for vehicle safety and human life. Bus manufacturers are focusing on passenger life against bus rollovers. Different materials and assembly techniques have been tried out by manufacturers to reduce the deathly impacts of rollovers. The Economic Commission for Europe enforced Regulation No. 66 (ECE R66) for the superstructure strength of buses to provide vehicle safety and protect passenger lives. Thus, design characteristics must satisfy ECE R66 under various load applications, without fail. This paper presents the evaluation of foam applied on the sidewalls of a non-commercial bus during rollover. The non-linear explicit dynamics code LS-DYNA as a solver and ANSA software as FEA pre/post-processors were used throughout the rollover analysis. Results showed that foam application on the sidewalls enhanced the impact resistance of buses during rollovers without making the body structure heavier.