APPLICATIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF 3-DIMENSIONAL VEHICLE ROLLOVER SIMULATION. IN: OCCUPANT AND VEHICLE RESPONSES IN ROLLOVERS

Rollovers are a common crash mode and due to the severity of the resulting crash injuries, understanding the cause of rollover crashes is a critical aspect of motor vehicle safety research. This chapter on the applications and limitations of 3-dimensional vehicle rollover simulation is from a comprehensive text on vehicle and occupant responses in rollovers. The authors describe procedures for investigating rollover crashes. They include a literature review to assess the current state of the art and findings of other researchers. The authors stress that a vehicle rollover is a complex, 3-dimensional event that is quite difficult to model successfully. The authors describe how the EDVSM simulation model calculates 3-dimensional forces and moments on the sprung mass (i.e., body exterior) and how these forces and moments are integrated into the equations of motion. The authors also provide some examples of the use of rollover simulations. Finally, the authors address the practical and theoretical limitations of rollover simulation as a tool for routine reconstruction of on-road and off-road crashes.