Pedestrian impact virtual validation: Lower legform to bumper test – Upper legform to bonnet leading edge test

The aim of this study was to analyse the behaviour of a Class A electric vehicle front end subjected to two homologation tests related to pedestrian protection. The two tests performed are the lower legform to bumper test and the upper legform to bonnet leading edge test. They were carried out in a virtual FEM environment in accordance with EU Commission Regulation No 631/2009 and No 78/2009. The virtual model was created using the HyperMesh software and the virtual validation was numerically simulated using the LS-DYNA explicit solver. The results obtained were evaluated and then compared with those obtained by performing some sensitivity analyses: material, thickness and density of some front-end components were considered as project variables in order to find the most appropriate design solution.