Vehicle Safety
In vehicle safety, clear legal requirements are a key focus alongside the development of technological innovations. National and international legal regulations define binding standards to which manufacturers must adhere in order to continuously improve vehicle safety. At the same time, consumers and consumer protection organisations demand the highest levels of safety, quality and transparency. Thanks to state-of-the-art virtual methods, these requirements are considered from the beginning of the concept development.
Our CAE experts support the development of all safety-related features and functions of modern vehicles.
CRASH-SIMULATION
In order to protect the vehicle’s occupants, sufficient survival space must be provided in the event of a collision. Additionally, the forces and accelerations experienced by occupants during a collision must not exceed specified limits.
Various countries around the world have therefore introduced legal requirements that manufacturers must comply with. These regulations are continuously being tightened.
Furthermore, regional consumer protection organisations set their own standards that go beyond the applicable legal requirements. These specifications are used to evaluate vehicle safety further. However, these guidelines are not binding on manufacturers.
Load Cases
The legal requirements cover the following load cases:
- Front crash (full width and offset)
- Side crash
- Pole impact
- Rear crash
- Rollover
- Pedestrian protection
- Head impact
Legal regulations
The table below sets out the legal requirements that vehicles must meet to be approved for operation in each region:
| Region | Full-width frontal | Offset frontal | Side Barrier | Side Pole | Pedestrian | Rear | Head Impact | Rollover |
| USA | FMVS 208 | FMVSS208 | FMVSS 214 | FMVSS 214 | – | FMVSS 302a FMVSS 301 | FMVSS 201 | Roof Crush: FMVSS 216a Ejection Mitigation: FMVSS 226 |
| Europe | UN R137 | UN R94 | UN R95 | UN R135 | UN R127 R(EU) 2019/2144 | UN R34 UN R153 | UN R21 | – |
| Japan | Art. 18 | Art. 18 | Art. 18 | Art. 18 | Art. 18 | Art. 22-4 | Art. 20 | – |
| China | GB11551 | GB/T 20913 | GB 20071 | GB/T 37337 | GB/T 24550 | GB 20072 | GB 11552 | Roof Crush: GB 26134 |
| India | AIS-201 | AIS-098 | AIS-099 | – | AIS-100 | AIS-101 | IS 15223 | – |
| South Korea | KMVSS 102-3 | KMVSS 102 | KMVSS 102 | KMVSS 102-4 | KMVSS 102-2 | KMVSS 91 KMVSS 91-2 KMVSS 91-3 | KMVSS 88 | – |
| Australia | ADR 69/00 | ADR 73/00 | ADR 72/01 | ADR 85/00 | – | – | ADR 21/00 | – |
Our engineers are always up to date with the latest regulations. This allows us to develop efficient, cost-effective solutions that are tailored to the needs of target markets.
Consumer protection requirements
The following table contains all the crash load cases that are included in the respective assessment programmes and for which the test results have been evaluated:
| Assessment Program | Relevant for | Full-width | ODB / SOB | MDB | Pole | Rollover | VRU | Child Safety | Whiplash |
| Euro NCAP | Europe | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |
| ANCAP | Australia and New Zealand | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |
| US-NCAP | USA | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |
| IIHS | USA | ● | ● | Virtual testing | |||||
| Latin NCAP | Latin America | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |
| JNCAP | Japan | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ||
| C-NCAP | China | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| C-IASI | China | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |
| KNCAP | South Korea | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |
| AESEAN NCAP | ASEAN-Members | ● | ● | ● | ● |
We consistently ensure compliance with all relevant specifications during development.
Insurance requirements
The insurance classification of vehicles depends on various factors, including the damage caused in an accident with low speed.
Our specialists use cutting-edge CAE methods to simulate these low-speed load cases and optimise the components.
Occupant protection
When developing occupant protection systems, we consider every part of the vehicle that may come into contact with occupants in the event of an accident. Restraint systems, such as airbags and seat belts, as well as components like seats and instrument panels, are designed to interact with the occupants.
Today state-of-the-art sensors can determine the size and seating position of the occupants. The type and severity of the impact are also classified at an early stage of the accident.
Using sensor data and extensive parameter studies, we can optimise the design of all restraint systems.
Methods and simulation procedures:
- Design of Experiment (DoE)
- Gradient-based optimisation algorithms
- Evolutionary optimisation algorithms
- Stochastic optimisation algorithms
VIRTUAL TESTING
The introduction of virtual testing procedures is bringing vehicle safety into a new era. Physical crash tests are increasingly being supplemented by simulations that use highly detailed dummy and human models.
Virtual methods enable impact scenarios to be evaluated in a more detailed manner. The initial application of these methods to evaluate pedestrian protection with active bonnets and simulate farside impact scenarios has demonstrated their potential to provide valuable additional insights.
From 2026, virtual testing will also be used for frontal protection, with simulations involving human body models being monitored. Similar steps are planned for rear crashes in the future.
We are constantly keeping abreast of the latest developments and trends, andhave proficiency in all virtual testing standards.
HUMAN BODY MODEL (HBM)
To date, the development of passive vehicle safety has been dominated by the use of familiar crash test dummies (also known as anthropomorphic test devices, or ATDs). These models have design-related limitations that will be overcome in future through the use of virtual human body models (HBMs).
HBMs enable much more accurate modelling of the human body and offer significantly higher biofidelity. They take into account influencing factors such as age, gender, weight and BMI.
These models allow us to analyse the interaction between humans and vehicles in detail, particularly in crash load cases, but also in terms of ergonomics.
As a distribution partner of renowned manufacturers, we regularly conduct internal studies on the behaviour of the latest FE models and HBMs in CAE simulations. This accumulated expertise feeds directly into our customer projects.
Pedestrian Protection
In recent years, partner protection has become increasingly important in vehicle development. In particular, accident scenarios involving pedestrians and cyclists are being considered.
In the conflict between predefined vehicle designs, available installation spaces and required safety standards, we develop targeted solutions in a short time using multidisciplinary simulation methods.
Once the virtual development phase is complete, we can take on the planning and coordination of physical testing for our customers and compare the test results with those from the simulations.
High-voltage safety
Electrified vehicles are gaining increasing importance, whether as hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), or battery electric vehicles (BEV).
However, the introduction of high-voltage systems also brings new risks, such as the danger of short circuits or fires.
Therefore, precautionary measures must be taken for all potential real-world accident scenarios in order to prevent injury and damage to property.
BODY
The body must be designed to protect the high-voltage (HV) system. Integrating the battery housing safely into the vehicle structure is a key factor.
Due to the HV battery’s considerable mass, very high forces are exerted in the event of a crash. These forces must be transferred to the body in a controlled manner via the mounting points and the form-fit of the components.
We use the latest simulation methods to determine all forces and stresses, and to find the safest and most efficient lightweight construction.
BATTERY HOUSING
In the event of an accident, the battery housing protects the cells inside it from mechanical stress.
We use innovative CAE methods to optimise the components in terms of stiffness and strength.
BATTERY CELLS
The battery cells, particularly the Li-ion cells, are the most sensitive component of the HV battery. All protective measures aim to safeguard them.
A realistic representation of the cells’ mechanical behaviour in simulation is the basis for reliable predictive calculations. We create the conditions for this.
ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS AND CABLES
All live HV components must be designed in such a way that no critical damage occurs within the specified crash load cases. In addition, customer-specific requirements must be met. We therefore thoroughly examine chargers, power electronics and PTC heating elements with regard to their mechanical and thermal loads.
We inspect all safety-critical areas and provide effective solutions for any affected components.
Would you like to learn more about our expertise?
Feel free to get in touch.
E-Mail: