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Best in-house testing has been true at voestalpine for many years—not only for automotive steels. With a comprehensive upgrade, Crash Simulator 2.0 is now fit for the future in terms of many opportunities and benefits.
voestalpine has been leading the way for decades in the development of innovative steels for the automotive industry. Thousands of crash tests have been completed in recent years. Crash tests verify the properties of the new steels in product development. Crash loads on components and assemblies are adjusted based on the application. This provides validation data for finite element simulation, which is ultimately responsible for vehicle design. The experts at voestalpine also perform tests for automotive customers and research projects being carried out with international partners.
Testing is how we make sure that our product development has been a true success. The revamp of our crash simulator is preparing us for the future.
Gernot Trattnig, Key Researcher, CTE R&D, Application Technology
The modernized system has been in operation since the beginning of the year. The revamp affected nearly every area of the testing systems. A new measuring and control system increases the precision and possibilities of path, position and force measurements. A high-speed camera with a new LED lighting system was integrated into the test sequences. The mechanical engineering and other technologies were updated. Structural changes optimize the safety and working conditions of the testing systems.
A new GUI interface increases user comfort and ensures the efficient integration of the results into a database from which they can be exported for test reports. The collection and availability of the data also supports the creation of material cards for crash simulations that are made available to customers.
Data is very powerful if it is used correctly. Crash Simulator 2.0 was designed and built in-house to meet our highest requirements. We are particularly proud of image-based deformation measurement that provides interesting insights.
Christoph Paster, Researcher, SFM R&D Mechatronics
A new test setup has also been integrated into Crash Simulator 2.0. The "Crash under Tension" setup is suitable for investigating the failure behavior of high-strength steels under tensile loading – such as the loads acting on the sills during a side pole crash test. More possibilities, highest precision, optimum data handling. With an upgraded crash simulator, you are perfectly equipped for the future.
