As per your correspondence with Rajeev, my team-mate, I am writing to you regarding the analysis of

the Impact Attenuator.

Firstly, let me explain what an Impact Attenuator is and its main purpose in Formula Student.
Impact Attenuator is an energy absorbing component mounted on the front of the car. The main
purpose of putting an Impact Attenuator is to absorb the impact energy created in case of a collision.
The main objective is providing safety to the car as well as the driver. An image of the same has been
attached for your reference.
According to FSAE, an Impact Attenuator needs to satisfy certain requirements. They are:
The Impact Attenuator must be:
a. Installed forward of the Front Bulkhead.
b. At least 200 mm (7.8 in) long, with its length oriented along the fore/aft axis of the Frame.
c. At least 100 mm (3.9 in) high and 200 mm (7.8 in) wide for a minimum distance of 200 mm (7.8 in)
forward of the Front Bulkhead.
d. Such that it cannot penetrate the Front Bulkhead in the event of an impact.
e. Attached securely and directly to the Front Bulkhead and not by being part of non- structural
bodywork.
The attachment of the Impact Attenuator must be constructed to provide an adequate load path for
transverse and vertical loads in the event of off-center and off-axis impacts.
On all cars, a 1.5 mm (0.060 in) solid steel or 4.0 mm (0.157 in) solid aluminum anti-intrusion plate
must be integrated into the Impact Attenuator. If the IA plate is bolted to the Front Bulkhead, it must be
the same size as the outside dimensions of the Front Bulkhead. If it is welded to the Front Bulkhead, it
must extend at least to the centerline of the Front Bulkhead tubing.
The Front Bulkhead is a planar structure which defines the forward of the major structure of the frame
and is used to provide safety to the drivers feet. A render of the same has been attached for your
reference.
IMPACT ATTENUATOR DATA REQUIREMENT
When the Impact Attenuator is mounted on the front of the car with a total mass of 300 Kg and runs
into a solid non-yielding impact barrier, it would give an average deceleration to the vehicle not to
exceed 20 gs and the peak deceleration not to exceed 40 gs. Total energy absorbed must be equal to or
greater than 7350 J .

The main objective of all the FSAE teams is to make an Impact Attenuator using materials light in weight
and also satisfy the necessary requirements. We have decided to use Aluminum Honeycomb and Steel
for the manufacturing of the attenuator. The specification sheet of the Aluminum Honeycomb has also
been attached.
An iteration of the design of the Impact Attenuator with complete assembly which also shows the load
or the mass 300 Kg (dropping mass) has been attached with the name attenuator 5.
In the following iteration, the Aluminum Honeycomb is shown in BLUE colour. Aluminum Honeycomb is
manufactured in the form of a continuous sheet of varying thicknesses. But for a reliable design and to
manufacture an attenuator of light weight, we made a hole exactly in the middle without compromising
on the FSAE requirements. An Aluminum plate shown in RED colour is sandwiched between two
honeycomb blocks which is a necessary requirement for transferring uniform loads. A drop mass (300
Kg) shown in GREEN colour is also modelled so the simulation of drop test could be conducted. The Antiintrusion plate (steel plate of thickness 1.5 mm) is shown in BLACK colour on which the attenuator is
mounted. The front bulkhead is shown in BROWN colour.
According to the requirements, necessary calculations were made regarding the size and shape of the
attenuator taking into consideration the material with which it is manufactured. The attenuator was
designed in CATIA. The dropping mass (300 Kg) was also modelled in the CATIA as well.
We have decided to analyze the Impact Attenuator by the means of Explicit Dynamics in ANSYS
Workbench. Research was done regarding the proper method or a proper way to analyze the
attenuator. One such preferred method is the Drop test in which the attenuator is fixed on ground and a
mass of 300 Kg is made to fall on the attenuator from a certain height in such a way that the kinetic
energy of the dropping mass just before the impact is 7350 J.
The same idea has been implemented here in the analysis.
The Attenuator assembly has been imported into ANSYS Workbench. Once imported, the edges of the
front bulkhead were constrained in all degrees of freedom. The dropping mass (300 Kg) were assigned
with Structural Steel properties and was given some initial conditions in the form of velocity to conduct
the simulation. A velocity of 7 m/s is given initially to it such that it falls on the attenuator with required
kinetic energy (7350 J). With all the constraints given, the analysis was solved for 2000 frames or cycles.
The results for the Equivalent Stress, Total deformation and Plastic strain were evaluated.
In-spite of all this, proper results were not attained. There was no deformation observed in the entire
assembly. For the stress results, the stress is all in the same range which is so unrealistic. Its the same
regarding the plastic strain too. These problems havent been resolved yet. We are looking for a possible
solution.
Altair has provided with the license for HyperWorks and we have access to the software but due to
limited knowledge regarding the analysis, we are not able to make use of the software efficiently.

Please feel free to write us for any more details regarding the Attenuator or any other information not
mentioned by me.
We hope that your technical expertise can help us in resolving our problem and help us in designing a
better car.
Please find the attached CAD of the attenuator, files, images, specification sheet and the "igs" file of the
assembly.