Crash Safety Assurance Strategies For Future Plastic and Composite Intensive Vehicles (PCIVs)

This report identifies outstanding safety issues and research needs for Plastics and Composite Intensive Vehicles (PCIV) to facilitate their safe deployment by 2020. A PCIV definition is proposed, which ensures that the weight and efficiency objectives are prerequisite. Potential safety benefits of automotive plastics and composites are reviewed, and safety specifications associated with each level of the Building Block approach are presented. Lessons learned from the racing industry and from limited production, high-performance supercars with extensive use of composite materials are summarized. Changes and additions to test and evaluation procedures due to PCIVs are discussed, with a focus on ensuring their compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Progress is summarized and research recommendations proposed in three topic areas pertinent to crashworthiness of PCIVs: material databases, crashworthiness test method development, and crash modeling.