Parametric study on crashworthiness of automotive sheet alloy

Abstract

Crashworthiness (or collision performance) is a critical design factor in optimizing automotive part products. In this study, a numerical sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the effects of material properties on crashworthiness for automotive sheet materials. As standard material parameters, the measured mechanical properties of AA 6111-T4 sheet were considered, based on the anisotropic non-quadratic yield function, Yld2004-18p, and a combination type non-linear isotropic-kinematic hardening law. The constitutive law was implemented into codes of the commercial finite element program ABAQUS, using user material subroutines. As for process simulations, spring-back after forming as well as sheet forming and collision were included in this evaluation.