Transient FEM simulation of door slam events and its application to durability analysis

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Transient FEM simulation of door slam events and its application to durability analysis

Bitsch, G. / Kießling, A. / Mawick, G. / Reißel, M. / Tokar, G. / Wirth, C.

Improved standards for side impact behavior and new requirements with respect to comfort and weight lead to a significant change of vehicle door design during the last years. As a consequence of this development, the durability behavior of the door and frame components involved in slam events became more important. The simulation of door slam fatigue life tests in the early design phase can help to significantly speed up the total development time of a new vehicle. For the front door of a concept car, a door slam durability test consisting of repeated door slams at three different closing velocities has been simulated. Two different door frame designs are investigated. The results are compared to experimental data. For a single door slam at a given closing velocity, the transient stress histories for door and frame elements are obtained by an explicit FEM analysis with LS-DYNA. With the help of the ANSYS LS-DYNA interface, these histories are transferred to LMS FALANCS, where the actual durability simulation is performed. Experimental and simulated fatigue life results show good coincidence.