Foundamentals of Automotive Crash Safety Lecture 1 Fundamentals of Vehicle Crash Safety impact energy absorption The kinetic energy is converted to work by deforming all the related objects Three levels of impact First impact: between vehicle front-end structure and external objects Second impact: between occupant and restraint system/interior Third impact: between occupant’s internal organs Crash safety a matter of reducing the relative velocity between occupants and vehicle interior to help reduce risk of injury to occupant during a collision Vehicle Crashworthiness Measure of the vehicle’s structural ability to plastically deform and yet maintain a sufficient survival space for its occupants in crashes involving loads** Lecture 2 Vehicle Frontal Impact Response and Occupant Ride-Down