Compatibility considerations for low-mass rigid-belt vehicles

A number of staged impacts performed by our group with the aid of a test device representing a low-mass vehicle (LMV) indicates that a rigid-belt body (RBB) is a valid means for providing adequate occupant safety also for LMVs in the strict sense (curb mass less than 600 kg). The RBB concept raises the problem of compatibility, however. Ideally, the deformability of car front structures should increase with increasing vehicle weight in order to ascertain compatibility. Published data on frontal deformation characteristics substantiate in contrast that conventional cars today exhibit an opposite behaviour. To evaluate the compatibility properties of ultrastiff LMVs, two crash experiments were performed along with a theoretical model analysis. An LMV with a mass of 680 kg (including batteries, 50% mass of two dummies, instrumentation) designed according to the RBB concept and a conventional care of 1320 kg--(equivalent loading conditions as LMV)--were crashed at 56 km/h in a frontal direction against a deformable barrier (FMVSS 214). Furthermore, a mathematical model was based on estimated deformation characteristics of conventional vehicles to predict intrusion distances into the FMVSS barrier in hypothetical frontal crashes with 56 km/h. The results indicate that due to its low mass an LMV does not represent an excessive compatibility problem for other car occupants in spite of the stiff RBB characteristics.