Theoretical focus: related literature

During a car crash incident, Figure 3.1, the vehicle body experiences high impact loads
which produce localized plastic hinges and buckling which can ultimately lead to large deformations and rotations with contact and stacking among the various components. After
stresses exceed the yield strength of the material or its critical buckling load, localized structural deformations occur during a few shockwave transits in the structure followed by inertial
effects and a transient response. Car crashes are dynamic events that persist for a short
duration of 100 to 200 ms, [61].

Figure 3.1: Renault Megane crash simulation. [17]

3.1

Crash analysis

Structural response is time-dependent if the loading is time-dependent. However, if the

loading is cyclic and frequency is less than 1/4 of the structure first natural frequency, we
are facing a quasi-static problem. If loading is of higher frequency or is applied suddenly,
dynamic analysis is required, [62].
Dynamic analysis uses the same stiffness matrix as stactic analysis, but also requires mass
and damping matrices. For a given magnitude of loading, dynamic response may be greater
or less than static response. It will be much greater if loading is cyclic with frequency close
to the natural frequency of the structure, [62].
If loading excites only a few of the lowest frequencies and response must be calculated
over a time span equal to several multiples of the longest period of vibration, as is the case
for earthquake loading, either the mode superposition method or an implicit method of direct
integration may be appropriate, [62].
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