A NOVEL APPROACH TO VEHICLE DYNAMICS USING THE THEORY OF A COSSERAT POINT AND ITS APPLICATION TO COLLISION ANALYSES OF PLATOONING VEHICLES
P.C. Varadi, G.-J. Lo, O.M. O'Reilly and P. Papadopoulos Veh. Sys. Dyn., 32, pp. 85-108, (1999)

Abstract
A fully three-dimensional, computationally inexpensive vehicular model is presented. In constrast to traditional rigid body modes, the vehicle's sprung mass is modeled as a (non-linearlt) deformable body. The formulation of the equations of motion is based on a continuum theory known as the theory of a Cosserat point. These equations largely preserve the relative simplicity of rigid body dynamics but incorporate deformable features. The ease of computer implementation permits the simultaneous simulation of vehicle and collision dynamics of multiple vehicles and highway objects. In this paper, the theory of Cosserat point is summarized and its general application to vehicle and collision dynamics is illustrated. A three-dimensional collision algorithm is discussed with emphasis on small closing velocities (negligible residual crush, elastic rebound). The novel model is compared to standard procedures.