Efficient crash structure design for road traffic accidents of tomorrow

Energy absorbing structures (EAS) play a vital role in automotive crash mitigation systems and save countless lives each year. Innovative EAS design ideas such as cross-sectional geometry is an area under intense research as evidenced by a large number of publications in recent years. It is however very difficult to directly compare the efficiency of the design suggestions due to parameter variation. This paper identifies designs with the highest potential, introduces an efficient reduced order modelling methodology and provides the first comprehensive unbiased benchmark. Critical evaluation of results reveal that some designs have inherent issues not previously reported, whilst others demonstrate significant potential for improving EAS performance compared to "conventional" designs.