Development and component validation of a generic vehicle front buck for pedestrian impact evaluation

For evaluation of pedestrian‐to‐vehicle impacts and pedestrian dummy development, a mathematical and mechanical generic buck corresponding to a passenger vehicle front was developed. The buck consists of the major energy‐absorbing structures of a passenger vehicle in a pedestrian‐to‐vehicle impact. The components are lower bumper, bumper, grille, hood edge, hood and windshield. Initially, the buck was developed by means of computer‐aided engineering (CAE). A CAE model of the buck was refined and tuned. In the current study a physical version of the buck was fabricated. The fabricated buck parts were all tested at the component level. A comparison was made between the mechanical generic buck and the range of results from small family cars in EuroNCAP pedestrian tests to confirm the similarity between the buck and small family cars. Finally, the mechanical test results were used to compare the results with predictions from corresponding simulations with the CAE buck components to confirm correspondence between the CAE model of the buck and the mechanical counterpart. The pedestrian buck front‐end stiffness was within the range of small family car stiffness derived from EuroNCAP pedestrian tests. Therefore, it can be concluded that the pedestrian buck, although a simplified and cost‐effective design, is a good representation of small family cars on the European market.