Side pole crash is one of the most stringent loadcases for vehicle structural development. Due to its localized nature of loading, concentrated localized deformations are observed on the vehicle structure. Developing the vehicle structure for structural integrity and occupant injuries with such local deformation is a challenge. The vehicle structure development is done based on the cascaded structure level targets, which are set based on benchmarking studies, learnings and experience. The structure target setting based on benchmarking will not always be effective as the occupant injury performance depends on many vehicle specific aspects such as occupant package, occupant position with respect to B-pillar, interior packaging and local component stiffness etc. To set the structural targets, CAE based studies were carried out for side pole crashes to evaluate the effect of different parameters affecting occupant injury performance. The paper evaluates the sensitivity of different parameters on occupant injuries and process to set the structure targets for achieving the desired occupant injury performance. The structural targets set using the process are validated with physical side pole test.

Tata Motors Limited: Vijay Neve, Kedar Joshi, Pratap Daphal