An Innovative Inflatable Morphing Vehicle Structure

The greatest demand facing the automotive industry
has been to provide safer vehicles with high fuel
efficiency, at minimum cost. Current automotive
vehicle structures have a fundamental handicap: a
short crumple zone for crash energy absorption.

An innovative inflatable bumper concept called
the I-bumper, has been developed in this research
to improve the crashworthiness and safety of
military and commercial vehicles. The I-bumper has
several active structural components, including a
morphing mechanism, a movable bumper, two explosive
airbags, front posts filled with granules, and a
morphing lattice structure with a locking mechanism
that provides desired rigidity and energy absorption
capability during a crash. An analytical design
model has also been developed in this research for
the optimal design of the I-bumper system.

The developed design and methodologies will be
useful to professionals in the fields of commercial
or military vehicle development who may be
considering an innovative structure concept that can
be used for designing better and safer vehicles for
improving crashworthiness of vehicles.

Autorentext

Dr. Lee received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 2008. Since May 2008, he
has been a research fellow at the University of Michigan. His
research interests include morphing (reconfigurable) vehicle
systems, as well as crashworthiness and safety designs.

Klappentext

The greatest demand facing the automotive industry
has been to provide safer vehicles with high fuel
efficiency, at minimum cost. Current automotive
vehicle structures have a fundamental handicap: a
short crumple zone for crash energy absorption.

An innovative inflatable bumper concept called
the "I-bumper," has been developed in this research
to improve the crashworthiness and safety of
military and commercial vehicles. The I-bumper has
several active structural components, including a
morphing mechanism, a movable bumper, two explosive
airbags, front posts filled with granules, and a
morphing lattice structure with a locking mechanism
that provides desired rigidity and energy absorption
capability during a crash. An analytical design
model has also been developed in this research for
the optimal design of the I-bumper system.

The developed design and methodologies will be
useful to professionals in the fields of commercial
or military vehicle development who may be
considering an innovative structure concept that can
be used for designing better and safer vehicles for
improving crashworthiness of vehicles.