Soft Surface Roll Mechanics Parameters for Light Vehicle Rollover Accident Reconstruction
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Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2007-07-18 Soft Surface Roll Mechanics Parameters for Light Vehicle Rollover Accident Reconstruction Kevin Claude Henry Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Henry, Kevin Claude, "Soft Surface Roll Mechanics Parameters for Light Vehicle Rollover Accident Reconstruction" (2007). Theses and Dissertations. 1436. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1436 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. SOFT SURFACE ROLL MECHANICS PARAMETERS FOR LIGHT VEHICLE ROLLOVER ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION by Kevin C. Henry A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Brigham Young University August 2007 Copyright © 2007 Kevin C. Henry All Rights Reserved BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY GRADUATE COMMITTEE APPROVAL of a thesis submitted by Kevin C. Henry This thesis has been read by each member of the following graduate committee and by majority vote has been found to be satisfactory. Date David W. Jensen, Chair Date Steven E. Benzley Date Kenneth W. Chase BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY As chair of the candidate’s graduate committee, I have read the thesis of Kevin C. Henry in its final form and have found that (1) its format, citations, and bibliographical style are consistent and acceptable and fulfill university and department style requirements; (2) its illustrative materials including figures, tables, and charts are in place; and (3) the final manuscript is satisfactory to the graduate committee and is ready for submission to the university library. Date David W. Jensen Chair, Graduate Committee Accepted for the Department E. James Nelson Graduate Coordinator Accepted for the College Alan R. Parkinson Dean, Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology ABSTRACT SOFT SURFACE ROLL MECHANICS PARAMETERS FOR LIGHT VEHICLE ROLLOVER ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION Kevin C. Henry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Master of Science Light vehicle rollover accidents on soft surfaces can be modeled assuming constant drag with linear motion equations and other engineering principles. The concept of using segment average results to evaluate roll mechanics parameters throughout a roll sequence, and specifically, segment duration to evaluate vehicle trajectory between ground impacts is developed. The trajectory model is presented, explained and compared to values obtained by analyzing digital video of rollover crash tests. Detailed film analysis procedures are developed to obtain data from rollover crash tests that are not otherwise documented. Elevation of the center of gravity of vehicles is obtained where instrumentation does not explicitly yield this data. Instantaneous center of gravity elevation data throughout a roll sequence provides the opportunity to calculate descend distances as a vehicle travels from one ground contact to another. This data is used to quantify severity of ground impacts as a vehicle interact with the ground throughout a roll sequence. Segment average analysis is a reasonable method for determining general roll mechanics parameters. Because of the chaotic nature of rollover accidents, the range of effective drag factors for a given roll surface may be quite large. Choosing an average of typical drag factors is a reasonable approach for a first-order approximation although certain parameters may be predicted less accurately than if actual values were known. The trajectory results demonstrate the influence of drag factor descent height calculations. Typical constant drag factors tend to overestimate descent height early in a roll sequence and underestimate descent height later in the sequence. The trajectory model is a useful tool to aid in understanding rollover mechanics although a rolling vehicle may be in contact with the ground for a significant fraction of a roll segment. The model should not be used at locations in roll sequences where there are extremes in translational center of gravity decelerations. These extremes include the segments immediately following overturn where there are large angular accelerations and large differences between the tangential velocity of the vehicle perimeter and the translational velocity of the center of gravity, as well as segments that include vehicle impacts with irregular topography. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research included in this thesis was made possible by General Motors® and Ford Motor Company®. I thank the gracious individuals at these corporations for allowing me access to proprietary crash test data for analysis in this work. I also thank Geoff Germane and the entire Germane Engineering staff for their input and assistance. I thank Dr. Jarrod Carter of Origin Engineering and Pete Luepke of Exponent®. I thank Dr. David W. Jensen as my thesis advisor, and Dr. Steven E. Benzley and Dr. Kenneth W. Chase as committee members for their input on this project. I also thank my family for their support. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................xvii LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................................xix 1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................1 1.1 Motivation .......................................................................................................1 1.2 Collision Type Overview ................................................................................4 1.3 Prior Work.......................................................................................................6 1.4 Contribution...................................................................................................12 1.5 Approach .......................................................................................................12 2 Current Industry Standard Analysis Procedures ................................................15 2.1 Segment Average Analysis............................................................................15 2.2 Trajectory Analysis Based on Segment Average Results .............................20 3 Equations Governing Analysis of a “Rolling” Body ............................................29 3.1 Kinetic Energy...............................................................................................29 3.2 Moments of Inertia........................................................................................30 3.3 Tangential Velocity.......................................................................................34 3.4 Instantaneous Center of Rotation ..................................................................37 3.5 Euler Equations of Motion ............................................................................39 4 Rollover Testing.......................................................................................................41 4.1 Description of FMVSS 208 Dolly Rollover Testing.....................................41 4.2 Description of Analyzed Rollover Tests .......................................................43 xv 4.3 Data Reduction for Test 1 (1989 Chevrolet Blazer)......................................44 4.4 Data Reduction for Test 2 (1998 Ford Expedition).......................................48 4.5 Data Reduction for Test 3 (2004 Volvo XC90) ............................................48 4.6 Data Reduction for Test 4 (1985 Toyota Pickup) .........................................51 5 Roll Mechanics Parameters and Results ...............................................................53 5.1 Ground Contact Ratio....................................................................................57 5.2 Drag Factors..................................................................................................59 5.3 Roll Angle.....................................................................................................60 5.4 Translational Velocity...................................................................................62 5.5 Roll Rate........................................................................................................65 5.6 Energy............................................................................................................69 6 Trajectory Analysis and Results ............................................................................75 6.1 Test 1 (1989 Chevrolet Blazer) .....................................................................76 6.2 Test 2 (1998 Ford Expedition) ......................................................................82 6.3 Trajectory Summary......................................................................................88 7 Discussion of Results ...............................................................................................91 8 Conclusions, Contributions and Recommendations ............................................95 References ........................................................................................................................99