Combining Virtual CRASH and MADYMO to Reconstruct Motor Vehicle Collision Dynamics and Assess Injury Risk to Occupants
Category: Publication
Publication: International Journal of Crashworthiness
Authors: Geoffrey T. Desmoulin, Michel Woering, Yinan Bao & Theodore E. Milner
Summary: The objective of this investigation was to demonstrate the utility of combining several methodologies to obtain a more complete description of the dynamics of motor vehicle collisions than is available from a single methodology on its own. The investigation began with the EDR data, assumed to be the ground truth and built upon it, adding missing information by interpreting other available evidence, i.e. tire marks, and performing a Virtual CRASH simulation to obtain a more complete record of the vehicle dynamics.
The results demonstrate that there are limitations to the accuracy of the Virtual CRASH simulation during the brief force impulse created during impact, where complex vehicle deformations likely differ from Virtual CRASH assumptions. For this reason, it is more accurate to use EDR data as input to MADYMO during the interval of the force impulse, rather than the output of Virtual CRASH. On the other hand, as we have attempted to demonstrate, Virtual CRASH output provides realistic vehicle dynamics after completion of the force impulse, i.e. the vehicle motion predicted by Virtual CRASH was consistent with the evidence from tire marks.
