- A car went out of control and mounted a curb (grass median) at an approach angle of about 45 degrees. It went airborne onto the opposite side of the road, going over the bonnet of a car traveling in the opposite direction, and pushing the car and its bonnet cover to the side.
Any ideas on how to determine the take-off angle and the trajectory of the car based on marks on the grass median and landing area, and hence the speed of the car.
I have seen the entry by MSI Curb Impacts where a member asked about using curb height as rise and wheelbase. Unfortunately, I do not have access to SAE and hence do not have details or the conclusions of findings reported by those 4 papers, whether they contain any info useful to me. Also, are there any newer papers on the subject?
Thank you very much for your time and effort in replying this question!
1st item
- There is no restriction on access to SAE. At the time i responded to that thread on Curb Impacts the SAE site was down.
Here are the links and each paper is available for around $17 each:- "Curb Impacts A Continuing Study In Energy Loss and Occupant Kinematics" SAE paper 2002-01-0557
- "Vehicle Speed Changes and Accelerations Associated with Curb Impacts and a Comparison to HVE SIMON" SAE paper 2005-01-1175
- Vehicle Speed Change and Acceleration Associated with Curb Impacts and a Comparison to Computer Simulation with a Multi-Point Radial Spring Tire Model, SAE paper 2008-01-0158
- Simple Models for Analysis of Curb- and Soil-trip Rollover Events SAE paper 2006-01-0722
- The type of vehicle striking the curb, the curb type and height of curb make for different 'launch' or 'take-off' angles from the curb.
Also, any roadway slope prior to the curb impact- was the median from a flat or curved roadway section?
- was the median flat or sloped