Dynamic FEM Analysis of Crashworthiness of Sidewalk-Driveway Boundary Columns

Recently, there have been frequent automobile collisions with pedestrians on sidewalks, and there is a movement to review the role of the sidewalk-driveway boundary column (car stop) from the viewpoint of crashworthiness. In this study, material models were obtained for SS400, SPCC and FCD450 with using Tanimura-Mimura model 2009, which can represent the response of viscoplastic materials subjected to impact loading, and the finite element model of the column were built to carry out numerical simulations of car collision with column. The collision velocity was varied from 20 km/h, 40 km/h, and 60 km/h. The deformation and fracture behavior of that FE model were investigated using the dynamic FEM code LS-DYNA. From the viewpoint of crashworthiness, the effects of material properties on histories of velocity, deceleration, and kinetic energy were focused on. The effects of the geometry and placement of the column were also examined in a parametric study. With one sidewalk-driveway boundary column, the SS400 and SPCC ones were able to stop a numerical model car at 20 km/h. When the column failed, the bending failure occurred at the root anchored to the ground. The FCD450 one was broken at all collision velocities. The SS400 one reduced the velocity and kinetic energy the fastest, but also had the greatest deceleration, albeit to a lesser extent.