LOAD TRANSFER ANALYSIS OF A BUS BAY SECTION UNDER STANDARD ROLLOVER TEST USING U* M INDEX

Bus rollover accidents are receiving increasing attention due to the associated high fatality rate. In order to improve the bus structural performance during the rollover collision, it is necessary to investigate how the impact force is transferred within the bus superstructure. This paper introduced a method for studying the load transfer behavior of the bus superstructure during the standard rollover test by using the U * M index. A bus bay section was used as the sample structure to demonstrate the proposed method. The result of the paper reveals that the load transfer analysis based on the U * M index can provide engineers with the insight of the structural issues and the direction to improve the structural performance, which cannot be accomplished through the conventional finite element analysis.