Automotive vehicle crashworthiness is one of the best examples of the use of simulation technology to improve the performance of a physical product. Virtual vehicle prototypes are routinely used in place of physical experiments to assess crash performance, to explore design options and to finalise development decisions before manufacture.

Crash analysis can be seen as an exemplar of the broader adoption of simulation-drivenproduct development across both the automotive industry and others such as aerospace, energy, offshore, and even consumer goods. By exploring the origins and key achievements in crash simulation over the last 50 years, we can extract important points of learning to guide the deployment of simulation methods for other domains.

The aim of this report is to highlight the milestones in the development of simulation methods for vehicle crashworthiness, explore the context of key technical advances, and gain an understanding of the broader influences that led to the adoption of simulation methods as a core capability in today’s automotive industry.

The report includes a history of crash simulation through a 50-year period, with highlights of the business drivers for each decade of progress. This is described in relation to the important stakeholders – the automotive OEMs, academia, the supply chain and supporting ecosystem of consultants and software providers. The progress is reviewed through the lens of ‘value streams’, such as cost, time, quality, innovation, and market leadership, with additional discussion on how those value streams have evolved and might be prioritised today.

The current state-of-the-art is described, both for the technology itself, and for the latest thinking in relation to simulation processes and workflows, and the relationship between test and simulation – the physical-virtual axis. All major automotive OEMs maintain a commitment to combining simulation and physical testing to gain maximum benefit for product development, a policy that maps directly across to other industries. The report concludes with a short review of upcoming trends related to machine learning, uncertainty quantification and AI-driven design exploration and endeavours to position those technical advances in the context of the history of crash analysis and the broader adoption of simulation methods in major industry sectors.

International Standard Book Number: 978-1-83979-234-2
First Published: 2024
Published By: NAFEMS
Springwood - Booths Park
Chelford Road
Knutsford
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United Kingdom

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