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The steel industry has released details of novel ideas for the powertrain and chassis elements of its Ultra-Light Steel Auto Body - Advanced Vehicle Concepts (ULSAB-AVC) study. The study also reveals that when the dynamic properties of steels are taken into account in design calculations the overall deformation of a vehicle structure can be reduced for a given crash deceleration. These concepts have major implications for passenger safety with the potential, for example, of less intrusion into the footwell in a frontal collision. With a final presentation of its concepts planned for the second half of 2001, the £6m (10m Euro) study is being carried out by Porsche Engineering Services on behalf of a global consortium of leading steelmakers. A major role for the steel companies involved is to provide technical information on steel’s strain hardening properties, an influence that increases with the speed of impact. Steel’s ability to become harder when crushed means it becomes stronger on impact, allowing the steel to absorb more energy. Determining the values of these vital properties for the latest high strength steels through experimental tests is of increasing significance to the carmakers. This role for the steel companies is particularly important if we are to achieve ground-breaking innovations without recourse to simply substituting high strength steels in existing designs," said Frank Walker of Corus Strip Products and chairman of the ULSAB-AVC technical committee. "Since 1998, when the work on the original UltraLight Steel Auto Body study was completed, computer-aided design, analysis and simulation techniques have evolved almost as rapidly as new steels have been developed. This has enabled us to take a new approach to crash design taking into account our improved understanding of the strengthening effect of modern steels when under impact." For further information about the results of the ULSAB-AVC study please download the PDF. | |
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