scope:

This part of CEN/TR 16303 is informative. It gives general information for the development of a vehicle model for crash test simulation against vehicle restrain system. Two different categories of vehicle models can be identified. The first category consists of a detailed model (usually finite element) of a vehicle or of a portion of it, typically used in the automotive industry to assess the structural performance and properties of the vehicle. A second type of vehicle model (finite element or multibody), instead, is typically used to assess the barrier performance in the simulation of full-scale crash tests. In this case, a less detailed model is required, in order to obtain a computationally cost-effective tool for the analysis of several different crash scenarios. At the same time, it is mandatory to reproduce faithfully the correct inertial properties and outer geometry of the vehicle. This Part of the guideline is meant to provide the user with all the information necessary to develop a complete and efficient numerical model of a vehicle in order to properly simulate a crash event (second category of vehicle above). It is not convenient to use a very detailed model, because of the unaffordable increase in the computational costs. In this perspective, the vehicle model can be regarded as a tool for the analysis of a crash event.The aim of this Technical Report is to provide a step-by-step description of the development process of a reliable vehicle model for the simulations of full-scale crash tests giving the reader a first synthetic summary of problems encountered in the different steps of the vehicle modelling process.