Poly-Crash

Protect drivers & passengers.  Minimize property damage.
 
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High-impact Resistance and Vehicle Crashworthiness

Protect drivers and passengers and reduce property damage with automotive parts designed to maximize crashworthiness in head-on vehicular collisions.
 
  • Light weight & fuel efficient
  • Environmentally responsible - minimize carbon footprint (CO2 emissions)
  • Impact resistant - absorbs & dissipates new energy

Automotive Related Products to Protect Daily Livelihood (transportation)

Using our series of unique surface modifications, we assessed a series of high-impact crush tests that were conducted on thin-wall tubular specimens at various load rates.  Using the Test Machine for Automotive Crashworthiness (TMAC) at the High Temperature Materials Laboratory (HTML) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, we examined the impact force–displacement behavior of C-IDA and CFRP- specimens.  See figures below.

The results reveal that while CFRP-designs come apart at the seams during even the initial pre-crush stage, our C-IDA structure can sustain its high-strength throughout the loading by localizing impact damage, see the progressive damage stages, 1EP – 4EP.  See figures below.

Crashworthiness properties, such as sustained energy dissipation and load re-distribution, are identified in three primary response stages: pre-crush stage, or initiation of failure; post-crush stage, or load-redistribution and high strength sustainability at large displacement through enhanced cumulative Energy Absorption (EA); and compaction stage.

We have shown that the specific energy absorbed per unit mass is 2.5 times greater using our modification approach, where only 35% of energy at impact was imparted to our test specimens following initial impact, as opposed to 70% imparted to CFRP-designed specimens.

This verifies the ability of our modification technique to enable designable materials to mitigate damage following initial impact and continuation force, leading to our immense fracture toughness capability.

Crashworthiness property of C-IDA-designed blocks (compared to CFRP-designed blocks), displaying the former’s ability to localize damage and re-distribute load at the point of impact, whereas CFRP fails at the seams.

The study, funded by the Department of Energy (DOE), investigated fuel efficiency and emissions standards, along with vehicle driving performance and stability using our C-IDA system to eliminate damage modes, such as buckling, in automotive components by alleviating failures, which can occur in many high-strength lightweight vehicle components.

Our modification technique creates a series of molecularly resilient interfaces that dissipates energy at the point of impact without permitting damage to transfer to other regions and that might lead to shear or buckling failures. In that light, our ‘localization’ approach generates tremendous point-of-impact energy dissipation that eliminates lower-mode buckling and shear failure that engenders tremendous load sustainability and structural stability.
  • DOE funding
  • Oak Ridge Nat’l Laboratory
  • Test Machine for Automotive Crashworthiness (TMAC)
  • Poly-Crash TM: 150% more energy absorption than carbon-fiber


Testing Library

Poly-Crash™  PowerPolymer Solutions' Automotive Protection System
 
Low velocity impact resistant automotive shells and head-to-head helmet collisions (10 – 12 mph)