Design of a New Energy-Absorbing Box for Lightweight Electric Vehicles and Research on Vehicle Crashworthiness

This study addresses the critical issue of high casualty rates in frontal collisions by proposing structural optimization methods for the energy-absorbing box of lightweight electric vehicles. A small pure electric car was selected as the research object. A finite element model for frontal collision was established in HyperMesh and solved using the LS-DYNA explicit dynamics solver. The parameters such as the acceleration of the B-pillar of the vehicle, the compression distance of the energy absorption box and the energy absorption are analyzed in this study. Energy absorption was used as the primary crashworthiness indicator while ensuring that the peak collision force, compression distance of the energy-absorbing box, and acceleration of the B-pillar complied with safety standards. Results demonstrate that Scheme 2 (featuring reduced wall thickness and a single induced groove) outperformed other designs, increasing energy absorption by 3% and reducing mass by 17% compared to the baseline model. This conclusion can provide a reference basis for the subsequent vehicle collision analysis.