CADFEM GmbH INFOPLANER 1/2005
Bus Rollover Analysis In addition to standard Finite Element Analysis (FEA) applications
with LS-DYNA
This project, initiated by the TechNet Alliance
members FIGES and CADFEM, is a perfect
example for a cost-effective solution by a “vir-
tual company“ in a network. FIGES acted as focus
point to the customer and managed the project.
CADFEM trained the customer in using LS-DYNA,
supervised the project and selected the certifica-
tion agency TÜV Süddeutschland. Lasso provided
consultation in proper application of the ECE
regulation.
TEMSA A.S., an important bus and coach manufacturer from
TURKEY, is currently embarking on high-technology CAE pro-
jects in cooperation with well known European CAE consulting
companies.
TEMSA´s production facilities are located in the city of Adana in
Turkey, and set out over a surface area of 400.000 square meters,
including 58.500 square meters of covered areas. TEMSA’s annual
output target is 1.250 coaches, 1.500 midi-buses and 13.000
trucks. TEMSA offers new markets and customers the skills of its
qualified workforce and advantageously low production costs.
As one of the largest, independent bus and coach producers in
the world, with the advent of globalization TEMSA inevitably saw
the need to integrate its product line with some of the world’s lea-
ding component manufacturers. TEMSA collaborates with highly
esteemed European consultants in an effort to further expand its
horizons through the continuous development and innovation of
its range of vehicles.
If its aim is to offer coach-manufacturing solutions tailored to cli-
32 ents’ specific needs, a manufacturing company must have a ver-
satile, high quality production capability, as well as state-of-the-art
technology and in-depth design experience. These are TEMSA’s
main achievements. TEMSA is currently determined
to focus on achieving customer satisfaction, and
continue along its path of success by confidently
improving, innovating and developing its vehicles.
Owing to these ambitious goals, TEMSA began
using CAE technologies for its product develop-
ment activities making investments in software,
hardware and human resources.
LS-DYNA Case Study
Anwenderberichte
IP_1-05.indd 32
using CAE tools such as ANSYS, TEMSA drew up and carried out a
project in cooperation with CADFEM GmbH and TÜV Süddeutsch-
land in Germany which aimed to perform regulatory bus rollover
analyses.
A rollover event is one of the most crucial hazards for the safety
of passengers and bus drivers. In past years it was observed that
the deforming body structure seriously threatened passengers’
lives. Today, European regulation “ECE R66” is in force to prevent
the catastrophic consequences of such rollover accidents from
occurring and thereby ensuring passenger safety for buses and
coaches. According to said regulations, certification can be obtai-
ned either by full-scale vehicle testing, or by numerical simulation.
The bending deformation enables scientists to investigate whe-
ther there is any intrusion in the passenger survival space (residual
space) along the entire vehicle.
The non-linear explicit dynamics code LS-DYNA (solver) and
ANSA software (crash FEA pre-processor) were purchased to use
throughout the bus rollover analysis project. Based on a compre-
hensive agreement made between CADFEM GmbH, Figes Ltd.
and TEMSA which included software sales, on-the-job training,
consultancy, testing and certification, two FEA engineers from
TEMSA were assigned to start on-the-job training under the
close supervision of highly skilled staff in the CADFEM GmbH
premises in Germany and perform rollover analyses on the
TOURMALIN 12.8 vehicle.
During the first stage, the verification of the calculation pro-
cedure following regulation ECE R66 was performed. Two
separate specimens (breast knot + roof edge knot extracted
from the vehicle) were prepared and sent to TÜV Automotive
for experimental investigations. These parts were subjected to
specific boundary conditions and quasi-static loads at TÜV’s
testing facility. The same test scenarios were simulated by using
LS-DYNA. Force-deflection curves both for the experiment and
simulation were compared, and it was observed that there was
a good correlation between experiment and simulation. The
verification by calculation is a compulsory requirement of the
regulation, as it is the technical service’s responsibility (TÜV Süd-
deutschland in this case) to verify the assumptions used in the
numerical analysis.
The FEA model of the full vehicle comprised 589.250 first order
explicit shell elements, 338 beam elements and 114.605 mass
elements. Element length was assigned as 10 mm in both criti-
cal regions (a verified assumption resulting from the verification
of calculation) and up to 40 mm was used for those under the
floor (lower structure-chassis). The number of elements per pro-
Result plots of rollover analysis of entire bus.
15.03.2005, 13:31:24
 CADFEM GmbH
Testing and simulation results of a roof component show high correlation.
file width was at least 3 for the upper structure; the number of
elements per width was 4 for sidewall pillars which are significant
for rollover deformation.
Tension tests were carried out on several specimens at TÜV
Süddeutschland facilities in order to obtain material data. The
true stress-strain curves were obtained and imposed in LS-DYNA
accordingly. The material model for the deformable structure in
LS-DYNA is the so-called “MAT Type 24, Piecewise Linear Iso-
tropic Plasticity model”. This is an elastic model made of plastic
which applies the Young’s Modulus if the stress is lower than
the yield stress, and measured stress-strain-curves if the stress is
greater than the yield stress. Rigid parts (engine, gear box, fuel
tank, axles, etc) are modeled using the so-called “Rigid Material,
MAT Type 20”. “MAT Type 9, Null Material” was used to define
the survival space (residual space).
Upon completion of the mesh generation of the bare structure,
masses were imposed according to a structured methodology.
Firstly, a list of TOURMALIN Vehicle masses was prepared. The
engine, gearbox and fuel tank were roughly 3D modeled as
rigid parts. Inertias were calculated analytically, and mass and
inertia were imposed on a representative node (on the appro-
ximate center of gravity points for the relevant part) of these
parts. The axles were modeled using rigid truss elements and
the mass and inertias imposed using the same method. The
fixed masses were imposed by using mass elements. The dis-
tributed masses were imposed by changing the density of the
related region.
The “Center of Gravity (CoG)” of the vehicle was measured by
test in TEMSA. The measured values were in a good agreement
with the ones coming from the FEA model. To exactly match the
measured and calculated CoGs, the CoGs of engine, gearbox and
the axles were fine tuned in the FEA model.
When it came to the definition of survival space, the statement
in the regulation ECE R66 was used to form the basis of the
survival space model. It was introduced 500 mm above the
floor, under the passengers’ feet, 300 mm away from the inside
surface of the side of the vehicle, throughout the entire vehicle
(trim lengths were also considered and added to these values).
The model of the survival space consists in rigid beam frames in
each section (10 sections), rigidly mounted in the hard region
under the floor. There is no stiffness connection between these
rigid beam frames as these shell elements are modeled using
“Null material”, for visual purposes only.
At the final stage, non-linear explicit dynamic solutions were per-
formed in LS-DYNA software.
IP_1-05.indd 33
INFOPLANER 1/2005
The total energy according to the formula indicated in the ECE
R66 regulation was as follows:
E*= 0.75 Mgh (Nm) was applied to the structure by a rotational
velocity to all the parts of the vehicle. h is the vertical distance
between the vehicle CoG at free fall position, and the vehicle CoG
which is kinematically rotated up to the ground contact position.
The hardware resources utilized were 2 PCs running with Linux
Suse O/S for the generation of FE mesh in ANSA Software, and a
LINUX cluster with 6 XEON processors (to perform the solutions)
located in CADFEM GmbH‘s premises in Grafing near Munich.
The multiple analyses were carried out until the final design which
met the requirements of the ECE R66 regulation was eventually
obtained. The entire project was supervised by TÜV and certifi-
cation granted to TEMSA’s TOURMALIN 12.8 following a final
meeting in Germany.
The simulation project was initiated in CADFEM GmbH subsi-
diaries in Chemnitz and Leinfelden, Germany and continued at
TEMSA A.S. in Adana, Turkey. The final stage, and the simulations
in LS DYNA were performed in Chemnitz. Both CADFEM GmbH
and TEMSA A.S. were consulted by LASSO Ingenieurgesellschaft
mbH and TÜV Süddeutschland during the various stages of the
project.
Finally, very special thanks go to the CADFEM GmbH staff, espe-
cially Dr. Ulrich Stelzmann for his patience, dedication, expertise,
and effort during the entire duration of the project. Also many
special thanks to Dr. Ulrich Hindenlang of LASSO and Mr. Franz
Bartl of TÜV Süddeutschland for their precious, constructive coo-
peration.
Authors
Kadir Elitok, FEA Engineer TEMSA A.S.
Fatih Han Avci, FEA Engineer TEMSA A.S.
Contacts
TEMSA A.S.
www.temsa.com.tr
Crash Analysis with LS-DYNA
Dr. Ulrich Stelzmann, CADFEM GmbH
E-Mail: ustelzmann@cadfem.de
LS-DYNA (international sites)
www.lstc.com . www.lsdyna-portal.com
Figes (LS-DYNA distributor in Turkey)
www.figes.com.tr
33
TÜV Süddeutschland
www.tuev-sued.de
LS-DYNA Case Study
15.03.2005, 13:31:29