Soft Body Physics for Crash Analysis: A Novel Approach to Evaluate the Crashworthiness of a Safety Barrier

Abstract

Current methods for evaluating the crashworthiness of safety barriers, such as physical crash tests and a finite element analysis, often face limitations in terms of cost and computational time. This paper investigates the innovative application of soft body physics simulation as an effective method for evaluating the crashworthiness of tyre barriers in motorsports. A bottom-up approach is implemented to create a mass-spring model of a tyre barrier system.  The model was validated against a physical crash test, demonstrating its accuracy in predicting peak deceleration during impact. The research highlights the advantages of soft body physics simulations, including real-time simulation capabilities and the ability to simulate large-scale structures like a tyre barrier.  These benefits offer significant cost and time savings compared to traditional methods. The study concludes that soft body physics simulation holds great promise for evaluating the crashworthiness of safety barriers in motorsports.  Further research in this area is warranted to explore the full potential of this innovative approach.

Keywords: Physically-based modeling, Formula One safety, Tyre barrier mass-spring model, BeamNG