Rollover of Bus

Manjinder Singh Sidhu

Engineer-R&D SML ISUZU Ltd. Village Asron, Ropar, Distt Nawanshahar-144 533, Punjab (India)
Abstract Passenger and Driver Safety is the primary concern of all Automotive OEMs. Stringent ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India) norms has further strengthened this field. Bus manufacturers should ensure that their design confirm to these norms using virtual. Rollover of the Bus structure as per AIS-031 is one of the safety standard that a bus body design should meet. Nearly 60% of the Collision Configuration in the Bus Accidents is Rollover and 55% Injuries are due to this. During Rollover, about 50% of the Head and 30% of the Neck is exposed to Accident and this being critical parts of human body, design should ensure that it provides maximum safety to these parts during roll over. This led to the change in the Design, material usage and manufacturing Processes in the Bus Industry. The norm identifies the Passenger Survival Zone inside the Bus and this must not interfere with the Superstructure of the Bus in the event of roll over. Efforts are being made to perform the test virtually in the initial stages of Design to reduce Cost, Time and Efforts. In this paper, the Rollover Crash Simulation of the Complete Bus Structure is performed as per AIS-031 regulation and the structure is verified for the Clear Survival Space. HyperMesh V11.0 and HyperCrash are used for Pre Processing; Explicit Solver Radioss Block V11.0 is used solving and HyperView, HyperGraph are used for, Post-processing the results

Introduction The Bus Rollover is considered as most stringent test for the Bus that shows the load bearing capacity of the superstructure and the strength of the Bus in terms of Passenger Safety. In this, the bus is rolled over from a platform as per AIS-031 standard (issued by Automotive Research Association of India) and is allowed to fall freely about the stopper as pivot. The governing parameters are the CG of the Bus, the wheel track, the overall height of the bus and the radius of gyration.

During Rollover, the Potential Energy is converted to the Rotational Kinetic Energy and is further converted to the Impact Energy on touching the ground. The energy on crashing is absorbed by the members attached to form the structural cage of the Bus in the form of deformations and stresses produced.

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THE BUS CONSTRUCTION The bus body can be divided into three parts; the chassis and engine, structural body, interior and exterior parts. The chassis and engine are quite important. They must pass the standard test by domestic and international organization. The chassis consists of frame, which is a box type section and varies longitudinally as per the load and strength required for Body. Some Stiffeners are also added at the locations where the effect of Bending and Torsion is maximum. The second part is the bus body structure. The body comprises of six main components; the left frame side, the right frame side, the front frame side, the back frame side, the top frame side and the bottom frame side. The top frame side is sometime called the roof frame side. The bottom frame side is also called the floor frame side. The left and the right side are similar but the left side is normally composed of passenger door(s). On the other hand, the right side has two doors; the driver door and the emergency door. The sides are concerned to be critical parts and they must be strong. The parts need to be analyticaly tested either by simulation or through physical test. Torsion and bending tests are widely simulated by FE analysis. However, the strength is affected by the manufacturing processes. For example, the special type of welding such as MIG, TIG and spot welding arc much better than the normal arc welding process. However, such manufacturing process is not concerned in this study. The third part, top frame or roof frame is considered as the critical part. It should be strong part in order to ensure safety of passengers. This part must support different loads such as interior components, air conditioners; luggage loads and aerodynamic load. The back frame and front frame are mostly supported and joined with the left and right sides as well as the roof frame and the floor (bottom side) frame. These two parts need to be both Aesthetically good and strong. Therefore the shape is quite become curvature, slop and good aerodynamic. The last part is bottom frame side, also called the floor, which is welded or joined with the chassis and the other five parts. Each part is further combined by a lot of pieces which is here called gussets. After this, the outer body paneling is done that gives the aesthetics and also absorbs energy in case of Rollover. This assembly further goes through Primer Coating and Painting Process; the assembly at this stage is known as the Body Shell. This shell is docked over chassis through U-Bolts or is welded to integrate the Bus. The interior and exterior is finished and other accessories are installed to complete the Bus. Bus undergoes thorough inspection before delivering to the customer. In The existing bus body structure safety is achieved by the strong structural members. Important frames are roof frame, left frame right frame, and floor frame. In this study, we aim to carry out the Rollover Analysis of the Bus as per AIS-031 and find the strength requirements of each member attached to the superstructure. The FE analysis method is used to validate the Bus as per the AIS Standard.

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LHS STRUCTURE

RHS STRUCTURE

ROOF STRUCTURE

FLOOR STRUCTURE

FRONT STRUCTURE

REAR STRUCTURE

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Standard The Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has framed the standard to evaluate the strength of superstructure of Large Passenger Vehicles or AIS-031 that specifies the method to test the structure for Passenger Safety The standard defines safe survival zone. In the event of rollover structure should not enter into this zone. The space extends from 150mm from the wall at the position of R-Point and to 250mm at the height of 750mm from R-Point as shown.

The Kerb Weight and Center of Gravity of the vehicle is calculated as per IS: 9211-1979 and IS: 11849-1986 respectively. These are the most important parameters that govern the amount of Energy that will be absorbed by the structure as can be inferred from below.

The vehicle is allowed to fall freely under the action of gravity from the platform (as shown above) onto a rigid floor. Due to the Impact, the bus gets deformed. As per the standard, this deformed structure must not intrude in the Survival Zone of Passengers for their safety. If the Bus Superstructure enters this zone, then the Bus fails as per the standard and if not, the test is said to be cleared and the Bus is safe proving its strength.

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Preprocessing (Using HyperMesh & HyperCrash) The CAD model of Superstructure is imported to the HyperMesh for Pre-Processing Processing in the form of six sub-assemblies assemblies as explained. After reorganizing the model and grouping the similar members in a single collector, the model is shell meshed using the 2D elements elem on the mid-surfaces surfaces keeping the element quality in check. Then the material and properties are assigned to each collector to make the FE model The shape of the original model is shown in figure. Normals, Penetrations and Interferences are checked and d corrected to avoid any kind of deviations. After combining all the six frames of the structure, the assembly components, exterior and interior paneling, passenger seat structure, handholds and all kind of structural members are attached to the main assembly assem in their respective positions.

Superstructure

Chassis Frame

Chassis is meshed in the similar process including the Engine Assembly, Transmission, Steering Assembly, Axles and Differential Casing, Fuel Tank, Propeller shaft, Suspensions and Exhaust Pipe. After docking the Bus Structure onto the chassis, the other assembly components are attached. We must ensure that after connecting all the parts and assemblies of the Bus, the physical mass and center of gravity of the Bus must coincide with the mass and center of gravity of the CAD model or the proto model (if available). This will ensure that the Rollover Energy will be same as that of the Impact Energy when done physically.

Wheel and Driveline

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BUS ASSEMBLY

Parts

Material Spec

Youngs modulus in MPa

Poisons ratio

Yield Strength in MPa

Hardening parameter

Max stress in MPa

Super Structure Chassis

GI

210000

0.3

210

450

357

SAPH45

210000

0.3

304

450

441

a) Quality Checks: The average element size is kept as 10 units (mm) mm) in the critical members and coarse mesh was used for depicting the Inner and Outer panels. The components under the chassis frame were made rigid to save the computational time. The following quality checks checks were maintained while creating the FE model.

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b) Joints: The Weld Connections are modeled as the spring elements with Tied Contact between the spring and the Structure Member. The high stiffness curve is assigned to the spring elements.

c) Rollover Setup: The setup is done in the following stages following the AIS-031 AIS standard.

1. Creating a Passenger Survival Zone in the structure.

2. Creating the Stopper for tire about which the Bus will topple. 3. Creating the Rigid Floor on which whic the structure will collide. 4. Rotating the Bus at the angle of instability (stable angle+1). 5. Applying the Gravity at the CG point of the Bus. 6. Setting up the output requests. 7. Assigning the solver inputs such as solving time etc.

SURVIVAL SPACE STOPPER 7 Simulation Driven Innovation

Analysis Is Done Using Radioss Post Processing (Using HyperView & HyperGraph) The output of the above deck shows us the rupture in the superstructure in the form of deformations as shown below.

Position Just Before Impact

Position after Stabilization @ 2.15 Sec

AFTER VIRTUAL ROLLOVER, DISTANCE BETWEEN RESIDUAL/ SURVIVAL SPACE & SHELL IS 5 mm. SO BUS SHELL DOES NOT INTRUDE WITH THE SURVIVAL SPACE.
The energy plot that is obtained during the analysis shows that; as the body becomes deformable (@ 1.85 Sec), the Rotational Kinetic Energy, due to impact transfers the forces to the Superstructure in the form of Axial and Bending Load. And due to this combined effect, the beams get deflected giving deformations to the structure as:

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ENERGY PLOT BELOW-INDIVIDUAL PART WISE

Results And Discussions The Results shows that the effect of Impact in terms of Energy on different members MAJOR LOAD CARRYING MEMBERS ARE AS UNDER:

1. REAR MEMBER

2. ROOF STICK

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3. REAR PILLAR

4. CANT RAIL

5. REAR SUPPORTS

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6. FRONT MEMBERS

7. SIDE VERTICAL PILLARS

8. SOLE BAR & WAIST RAIL

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The effect of Axial and Bending Loads on the Vertical Pillars, Truss, Roof Stick, Front and Rear members in the form of Normal and Tangential Forces are.

1. Vertical Pillars (near Cant Rail)

2. ROOF STICK

3. SIDE DIAGONAL MEMBERS

4. FRONT STRUCTURE MEMBERS

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5. REAR STRUCTURE MEMBERS

Benefits Summary After studying the results and the stress pattern on the bus, benefits of virtual rollover using HyperWorks are as under:1. Maximum load carrying/critical members are strengthened to provide strength and support. 2. Safety of the Passengers/Driver/Co-Driver. 3. Time saving. 4. Cost saving. 5. Reduction in number testing vehicle. 6. To understanding the nature and pattern of forces acting on the BUS (structure) in normal and tangential directions, which helped the designer to use the correct crosssection of tubes at right location saving the overdesign of the Bus. Future Plans The study proved to be effective in terms of Cycle Time, Cost and Crashworthiness of the Structure. We can further extend this study for Vehicle Weight Reduction to improve the overall performance of the Bus & Frontal Crash of Bus for Driver / Co-Driver /Passenger Safety. Conclusions The Rollover Simulation proved to be an effective method to validate the Structural Crashworthiness as per AIS-031 standard. The software gave the freedom to study and analyze the output in different forms and sections which is difficult to workout practically.

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