Vehicle Damage Analysis Flashcards
7 cards from real ACTAR practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Vehicle Damage Analysis flashcards as text
In a collision, the term 'induced damage' refers to:
Answer: Damage that occurs as a secondary result of primary damage or structural deformation
Induced damage is secondary damage that results from primary contact damage, such as a hood buckling because the front rail collapsed.
The CRASH3 damage algorithm uses energy-stiffness coefficients (A and B) primarily to:
Answer: Calculate crush energy absorbed by the vehicle structure
CRASH3 uses A (force-per-unit-width at zero crush) and B (stiffness) coefficients to compute the energy absorbed in vehicle crush deformation.
Which measurement technique is used to quantify vehicle crush in the field for CRASH energy calculations?
Answer: Taking six evenly-spaced crush depth measurements across the damage width
The standard method involves six uniformly-spaced perpendicular crush measurements (C1–C6) across the damaged zone width.
A vehicle exhibits 'peripheral damage' in a collision analysis. This refers to:
Answer: Damage to components at the edge of the contact area, such as mirrors or trim
Peripheral damage occurs at the margins of the contact zone and includes items like mirrors, lamps, and moldings that are struck tangentially.
When analyzing a sideswipe collision, the direction of force (DOF) is typically:
Answer: Perpendicular to the vehicle's longitudinal axis
In a sideswipe, the primary force vector acts laterally — perpendicular to the vehicle's long axis — because contact occurs along the side.
The stiffness coefficient 'A' in the CRASH3 model represents:
Answer: The residual force per unit width at zero crush depth
The A coefficient is the y-intercept of the force-crush relationship, representing the force per unit width required to initiate crush (at zero deformation).
How does 'restitution' affect post-collision vehicle separation velocity in damage-based speed analysis?
Answer: A coefficient of restitution greater than zero means vehicles separate faster than a purely plastic collision would predict
A non-zero coefficient of restitution means some elastic energy is returned, causing vehicles to rebound and separate at higher relative velocities than a perfectly plastic impact.