Economically Improving Crash Worthiness of a Large Propane Tanker

Approximately every three years a 65,000 lb propane tractor-trailer crashes resulting in explosion that usually kills several people. The study presented in this paper first simulates the effects observed at one of these accident sites. This was simulated in LS-DYNA by building a full length model of the tanker trailer and also including the liquid in the tanker. The presence of the liquid in the model provide the initial effects of liquid on the tanker. The resulting model correlated very closely with the actual observation seen at the crash site. Then a variety of options where explored to determine how to improve the crash worthiness of the tanker for several crash scenario's. The result of this work illustrated that for less than $20,000 the velocity that would cause failure could be raised from 20 mph to over 55 mph through the use of energy absorbing materials.