Collision Avoidance: Vehicle Rollover Mitigation

Vehicle instability and rollover is an area of concern, particularly for SUVs and trucks, which have high centers of gravity. Fatality rates in rollover accidents, including those due to occupant ejection, have heightened interest in investigating and simulating the phenomena from various viewpoints. CISR's research has focused on the development and enhancement of simulation tools to enable investigation and prediction of the rollover phenomena. The simulation of tripped rollover occurrences is being studied from both a vehicle dynamics approach as well as an advanced finite element analysis. While each approach individually has benefits and shortcomings, our hybrid approach takes advantage of the best-combined formulations for the distinct stages of rollover phenomena.

New strategies in non-linear dynamic finite element codes are being examined to reduce computational time in order to make the approach viable. Other critical areas of development necessary in this field are also being examined. In particular, we are developing the modeling, mechanics, and computational components needed before a finite element method can become a useful tool for accurate and efficient modeling of vehicle rollovers.