STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF A LONG-DISTANCE DOUBLE-DECKER BUS DURING CRASHES

Abstract

This study presents an analysis of frontal impact and lateral overturn collisions of a double-decker bus, carried out in accordance with Regulations 66 and 29 of the United Nations Economic Commission of Europe (UN/ECE), and the Ecuadorian Standardization Service Institute (INEN) with its regulation 1323:2009. The INEN is on charge of regulating the buses for transportation of Ecuadorian passengers. The continuous improvement of active and passive safety of buses with respect to accidents, is currently a topic with great social impact. In this context, the present paper applies the finite element method (FEM) to analyze the behavior of a double-decker bus subject to different collision scenarios, such as frontal impact and lateral overturn, with the purpose of studying the effects of an accident of this type of structure, considering that the existing regulations are not specific for this kind of vehicles. The obtained results enable taking into account different considerations when designing these elements.