Application of Dual-Phase and TRIP steels on the improvement of crashworthy structures

The improvements in vehicle crashworthiness observed in recent years have been closely linked to advanced high-strength steels that are currently being produced or in process of development. Amongst these, Dual-Phase and TRIP (Transformation Induced Plasticity) steels have presented excellent properties for use in crashworthy structures. For these steel grades an understanding of material behaviour at relevant strain rates is needed as well as constitutive equations suitable for use in analytic and numerical calculations. In this study the crashworthiness of thin-walled sections made of Dual-Phase and TRIP steels was investigated. Tensile tests were performed at different strain rates in a range of interest for crashworthiness problems. The results allowed the determination of parameters of Cowper-Symonds equation. Crush tests were performed at different speeds for top-hat and hexagonal tubes manufactured using laser welding. The experimental results were compared with numerical simulations obtained with LS-DYNA software. The influence of different material parameters on the accuracy of the simulations was examined.