ULSAB-AVC Will Achieve Crash Performance In Anticipation of 2004 Criteria
5 January 2000
ULSAB-AVC Will Achieve Advanced Crash Performance In Anticipation of 2004 Criteria, Reports American Iron and Steel Institute
Study Will Show Ways to Effectively Balance Potential Conflicts
Between Safety and Fuel Economy
DETROIT, Jan. 5 -- The global steel industry's ULSAB-AVC
project has begun its investigation into strategies for designing very light
weight vehicles that also are very safe, reports the American Iron and Steel
Institute.
This is the crux of a major challenge facing vehicle makers the world over
who are working intensively to overcome the difficult task of building
lightweight vehicles that achieve significantly greater fuel economy and yet
meet more stringent future safety standards, perform well and remain
affordable for their customers.
Building on lessons it learned from previous and continuing UltraLight
Steel Auto Body (ULSAB) initiatives, the steel industry's ULSAB-AVC (Advanced
Vehicle Concepts) Consortium has defined a set of safety requirements that are
significantly more demanding than current government standards anywhere in the
world. As such, the crash targets for ULSAB-AVC anticipate various advances
in safety performance that may become government standards by 2004. Reducing
the weight of a vehicle is a straightforward strategy to improve fuel economy,
but potentially can create safety issues. For example, in a crash between a
vehicle and a stationary object, such as a light pole, a modern, well-designed
vehicle, regardless of weight, will manage the crash energy effectively up to
the limits of its design.
However, in a crash between a lighter vehicle and a heavier vehicle,
physics determine that the heavier vehicle will perform better. Thus, vehicle
designers work hard to balance the sometimes competing objectives of better
fuel economy and safety in ways that still enable their vehicles to meet
government crash standards and consumer demands, which are becoming ever more
stringent.
Engineers at Porsche Engineering Services (PES), of Troy, Mich., who are
conducting the ULSAB-AVC study, will combine the latest in steel materials and
processing technologies with holistic design techniques they applied in ULSAB
to achieve the safety targets. In concert with the ULSAB-AVC Consortium, PES
defined these safety targets after analyzing global trends, consumer demands
for safer vehicles, and government criteria now under consideration for future
implementation.
Steel is an excellent material for the purpose of managing crash energy.
It is inexpensive and strong. It is an optimal material for designing safe
vehicles. It offers engineers the greatest design flexibility for packaging
engines, passengers and cargo. Steel is the world's most recycled metal. It
is easy to handle and form into a wide variety of complex shapes.
The latest high strength steels offer outstanding potential for
lightweighting vehicles. Automakers understand this. During the past two
decades, high strength and ultra high strength steels have been the fastest
growing automotive lightweighting materials for structures and body
applications.
Scheduled for completion in mid-2001, the ULSAB-AVC project will present
advanced vehicle concepts to help automakers use steel more efficiently and
provide a structural platform for achieving:
-- Anticipated crash safety requirements for 2004,
-- Significantly improved fuel efficiency,
-- Optimized environmental performance regarding emissions, source
reduction and recycling,
-- High volume manufacturability at affordable costs.
Unlike ULSAB, ULSAB-AVC goes beyond the body-in-white and will include the
suspension, engine cradle, closures and all structural and safety-related
components. It will create conceptual designs; however, there are no plans
currently for construction of actual hardware, as in the ULSAB study. PES
will simulate the crash events through application of sophisticated computer
aided engineering (CAE) techniques.
The simulated crash events that USLAB-AVC must successfully pass (listed
with current U.S. requirements) include:
Crash Event ULSAB-AVC Program U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration Requirements
(Current)
Frontal 35mph [56 km/h] zero 30mph [50 km/h] zero deg. frontal
Impact deg. frontal impact impact against non-deformable
against non-deformable barrier (US-NCAP FMVSS 208)
barrier (US-NCAP)
Frontal 40 mph [64 km/h] 40% None
Offset overlap, frontal offset
impact against deformable
barrier (Euro-NCAP)
Side 38.5 mph [62 km/h] side 33.5 mph [55.8 km/h] side impact
Impact impact with deformable with deformable barrier (Side Impact
barrier (Side Impact - - FMVSS 214)
SINCAP)
Rear 30 mph [48 km/h] impact 30 mph [48 km/h] impact with moving
Impact with moving barrier barrier (Rear Impact - FMVSS 301)
(Rear Impact - FMVSS
301)
Roof Crush Roof Crush plus Roof Crush FMVSS 216
Rollover (similar to
FMVSS 216, but with
greater load)
Side Pole 20 mph [32 km/h] side None
Impact impact with 254mm
diameter pole (Side
Pole Impact)
Three of the ULSAB-AVC tests involve higher impact speeds and/or greater
loads than current U.S. standards. (The effect of greater impact speeds is
geometric, not linear. For example, the force of the side impact test at 38.5
mph is approximately 32 percent greater than that at 33.5 mph.) Two tests
(side pole impact and Euro-NCAP offset) anticipate future U.S. government
standards in 2004.
The ULSAB-AVC project will include development of optimized designs for
two classes of vehicles:
-- A European C Class, as represented by two benchmark vehicles, the Ford
Focus and the Peugeot 206
-- A PNGV* class vehicle, as represented by the Chrysler Cirrus.
*(Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles is a joint effort of the
U.S. government and DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.
to design and build driveable prototype vehicles by 2004 that achieve up to 80
mpg, while maintaining size, safety, functionality and affordability of
benchmark 1994-era, five passenger sedans.)
At 1,068 kilograms (kg) (2,350 pounds), the Ford Focus is a true C Class
size vehicle and meets current U.S. and European government safety standards.
The Peugeot 206 is slightly smaller at 909 kg (2,000 pounds) and provides for
detailed benchmarking of the mass of its components. (The Peugeot 206 is
available for sale only in Europe and does not have to meet U.S. safety
standards.)
For the PNGV vehicle, ULSAB-AVC will follow the design and engineering
targets set for that vehicle, except for structural and crash performance.
The Consortium has increased these latter two requirements to comply with
anticipated standards of 2004. Among the key assumptions for the PNGV program
is that its target vehicles will meet present and future Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standards (FMVSS).
Based on results of benchmarking against these vehicles, as well as
others, ULSAB-AVC will set targets for such elements as:
-- Total vehicle mass, subsystem and component mass, vehicle dimensions
and performance (U.S. standard and European standard),
-- CO2 emissions and related fuel consumption
-- Vehicle features including safety equipment, comfort features (e.g.,
air conditioning, audio system, electronic seats)
-- Crashworthiness
-- Structural performance of the body structure including torsional
rigidity, bending rigidity, normal mode frequencies
-- Aerodynamic drag
-- Affordability (total vehicle cost)
ULSAB-AVC is the latest in a series of steel industry initiatives that
offer steel solutions to vehicle makers, government regulators and
environmentalists around the world, which improve the automobile's
environmental profile through increased fuel efficiency, while improving
safety and performance and maintaining affordability. In addition to ULSAB
and ULSAB-AVC, other initiatives include ULSAC for closures (doors, hoods,
deck lids, hatchbacks), ULSAS (suspensions) and LTS (North American Light
Truck Structures study). The steel industry also is a key participant in
IMPACT (Improved Materials & Powertrain Architectures for 21st Century
Trucks), a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)-sponsored program to develop
strategies for reducing weight, enhancing performance, improving mobility and
increasing fuel economy of tactical trucks for the U.S. Army.
From now until the completion of the concept study in mid-2001, the ULSAB-
AVC Consortium, which comprises 33 of the world's leading steel companies from
21 countries, will continue to issue periodic reports on its progress to
inform key stakeholders and to elicit constructive feedback. With this
approach, the consortium seeks to enhance its contribution to state-of-art
thinking and understanding about how best to achieve and balance often
conflicting objectives in the design, construction and marketing of safe,
affordable, fuel efficient and environmentally responsible vehicles.
These reports, called "Technology Transfer Dispatches," will be available
on http://www.autosteel.org and will provide greater detail and data than this
and subsequent releases offer.
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) is a non-profit association
of North American companies engaged in the iron and steel industry. The
Institute is comprised of 46 member companies, including integrated and
electric furnace steelmakers, and 175 associate and affiliate members who are
suppliers to or customers of the steel industry. For more news about steel
and its applications, view American Iron and Steel Institute's website at
http://www.steel.org .
The Automotive Applications Committee (AAC) is a subcommittee of the
Market Development Committee of AISI and focuses on advancing the use of steel
in the highly competitive automotive market. With offices and staff located
in Detroit, cooperation between the automobile and steel industries has been
significant to its success. This industry cooperation resulted in the
formation of the Auto/Steel Partnership, a consortium of DaimlerChrysler, Ford
and General Motors and the member companies of the AAC.
This release and other steel-related information are available for viewing
and downloading at American Iron and Steel Institute/Automotive Applications
Committee's website at http://www.autosteel.org .
Automotive Applications Committee member companies:
AK Steel Corporation
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Dofasco Inc.
Ispat Inland Inc.
LTV Steel Company
National Steel Corporation
Rouge Steel Company
Stelco Inc.
US Steel Group, a unit of USX Corporation
WCI Steel, Inc.
Weirton Steel Corporation