Revolutionary truck front tested in Sweden, shows potential to decrease car occupant injuries. Swedish experts unveil new truck front design to reduce car-truck collisions & fatalities.

A Team of Experts Develops Revolutionary Design to Reduce Fatal Crashes in Car-Truck Collisions

The development of a new truck front aims to improve safety for car occupants in collisions with heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).

The Swedish Transport Administration, Trafikverket, conducted tests on the new truck front and found that it could significantly reduce the deformation of a passenger car compartment by 30-60 percent, lowering the risk of injury and death for car occupants. In both the EU and the US, 14 to 16 percent of all car occupant fatalities are caused by collisions with HGVs.

The most common types of accidents in these collisions are head-on crashes on rural roads and rear-end crashes on highways. In the majority of traffic accidents involving HGVs, it is the other party who dies, usually in a passenger car. To improve the survival rates of passengers in these types of collisions, it is crucial to investigate further and develop better truck designs.

While modern passenger cars are equipped to withstand a collision at 80 kilometers per hour without fatal consequences, the same cannot be said for collisions with trucks. Despite often being at moderate speeds, the severity of the crash is still high due to the significant differences in geometry, stiffness, and mass between the two vehicles.

In order for a passenger car occupant to survive a head-on collision with a truck, the cabin in the passenger car must remain intact. However, this is currently not possible to guarantee, even in the most modern cars. Therefore, the research team at Chalmers University of Technology is dedicated to finding ways to protect car passengers and truck drivers in the future.

The structural elements of cars and trucks, such as bumpers, energy-absorbing beams, and passenger compartment frames, are designed to either deform and absorb energy or remain intact and protect occupants. However, these localized structures often do not interact the way they were intended, resulting in a less efficient crash response. To address this issue, the team at Chalmers University of Technology developed a truck front that would improve the collision process. This latest design was based on previous research carried out at the university.

The new truck front's internal design is made of aluminum honeycomb, a structure composed of repeating hexagonal tubes that are primarily made of air. This lightweight, energy-absorbing structure is commonly used in crash test barriers to provide a distributed force and absorb energy. By adjusting the thickness of the aluminum foil, the force and deformation characteristics can be changed, making it a flexible and effective solution for crashworthiness designs.

The new truck front takes advantage of the new truck dimension regulations in Europe that were amended in 2019, allowing for more space and opportunities to integrate crashworthiness designs. The truck front was tested by Trafikverket at the Autoliv test track in Vårgårda, and the results were compelling. The crash tests showed that the new truck front could reduce passenger car compartment deformations by 30-60 percent, thus significantly reducing the risk of injury for car occupants. It also improved truck driver safety and cargo security by reducing deformation in sensitive areas and protecting key components such as steering, braking, and suspension systems.

According to Rikard Fredriksson, Senior Advisor at Trafikverket and Adjunct Professor at Chalmers, a truck is involved in every fifth fatal accident in road traffic, resulting in approximately 45 deaths per year in Sweden alone. The ultimate goal is to develop a standard for crash tests for trucks that can be incorporated into Euro NCAP's consumer tests by 2030. This would ensure that people in a passenger car can survive a head-on collision with a truck, as the car compartment remains intact. Chalmers University of Technology, Trafikverket, and the automotive industry are working together to further develop and improve the tests with the new truck front.

Alton Shaffer
With a strong hold on the business domain with an experience of over 10 years, Alton owns a Masters Degree in Business Administrations. He is associated with Industry News USA from last 3 years and handles the Business section successfully. In team Industry News USA, Alton is known as an affluent source of knowledge. He is honored for greatest efforts in his field. With a unique style of communicating, Alton is labeled as a problem-solver of Industry News USA.