SAFIR Impulse Project 3, Subproject 1: Pain-sensitive car body

In this subproject, an innovative sensor technology for the detection of deformations and damage to the vehicle, e.g. parking crashes or collisions with other vehicles, is being researched. The sensor consists of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). Great importance is attached to a simple production of the CFK sensor. The sensor is integrated into the outer skin of the vehicle and is supposed to detect a contact with a possible collision object within a few milliseconds.

For this purpose, the ohmic, capacitive, inductive or combined properties of the plastic are being researched, whereby the real-time capability for crash applications is a challenge, especially for the measurement of capacitive and inductive effects. If the vehicle body is deformed or damaged, the CFRP material generates electrical signals which are evaluated in real time.

Research is being conducted into the causes of resistance changes or structure-borne noise generation in CFRP and how the measurement signals are influenced by different loads. The effects described above will be modelled by pendulum, drop tower and crash tests. For this purpose, corresponding measurement setups will be developed and validated. The validation of the system is exemplarily shown in a side crash scenario, because in these safety-critical situations a very fast detection and evaluation of the contact has to take place.

Based on these results, the sensor will evaluate electrical and structure-borne noise signals. The sensor complements the global safety system as an innovative, contact-based sensor. It supplements the radar-based side crash detection in Subprojekt 2 and makes its data available to the Safety-Observer.