Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SALIENT (Novel Concepts for Safer, Lighter, Circular and Smarter Vehicle Structure Design forEnhanced Crashworthiness and Higher Compatibility)
Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2025-08-31
SALIENT aims to make roads safer by reducing injuries and fatalities through lighter, circular, and smarter vehicle structures adaptable to diverse crash scenarios. From the start, it focused on developing and validating innovative front-end structures (FES) aligned with eco-design and circular economy principles to enhance safety. Major progress includes defining complete technical and performance requirements, future crash scenarios, and ADAS specifications, while advancing circular design strategies, sustainable materials, and simulation tools. The project developed a smart, high-energy-absorption FES, adaptable to future mixed traffic, ensuring improved safety, integrity, crashworthiness, and compatibility.
SALIENT’s impact pathway targets safer and lighter vehicles (42.7% FES weight reduction, 11.6% BIW reduction, >10% total BIW saving) without compromising safety. Its innovations improve cross-vehicle crash compatibility and resilience across multiple impact angles. Impacts include:
• Scientific: new knowledge, skilled R&I professionals, and open science practices.
• Economic: enhanced market attractiveness, competitiveness, and EU industry growth.
• Social: safer, more sustainable technologies, longer component lifetimes, and higher public trust.
Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) play a key role through LCA/LCCA-based socio-economic assessments, business strategy and exploitation plans, and targeted outreach to address ethical, privacy, and inclusivity concerns early in technology development.
SALIENT’s impact pathway targets safer and lighter vehicles (42.7% FES weight reduction, 11.6% BIW reduction, >10% total BIW saving) without compromising safety. Its innovations improve cross-vehicle crash compatibility and resilience across multiple impact angles. Impacts include:
• Scientific: new knowledge, skilled R&I professionals, and open science practices.
• Economic: enhanced market attractiveness, competitiveness, and EU industry growth.
• Social: safer, more sustainable technologies, longer component lifetimes, and higher public trust.
Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) play a key role through LCA/LCCA-based socio-economic assessments, business strategy and exploitation plans, and targeted outreach to address ethical, privacy, and inclusivity concerns early in technology development.
SALIENT’s dedicated work packages effectively delivered all technical objectives, milestones, and deliverables on schedule.
1. Future accident scenarios: Developed a comprehensive set of crash scenarios defining impact parameters (speed, angle, energy, geometry) and identified semi-automated (SAV) and automated vehicle (AV) penetration rates and roll-out strategies. Analysed how driving automation affects safety in mixed traffic, considering new impact configurations, vehicle compatibility, and interactions among automated and manually driven vehicles.
2. Innovative FES design: Created circular and eco-designed concepts for both the Base Crashworthiness (BCFES) and Adaptive Front-End Structures (ACFES), optimized for future accident scenarios.
3. Advanced sustainable materials: Developed and optimized carbon-reinforced thermoplastic composites, aluminium alloys, and hybrid components, preparing and testing material samples for scalable lightweight structures.
4. Efficient manufacturing: Optimized high-throughput, low-cost processes for these materials, enhancing production rates, energy efficiency, and waste reduction.
5. ADAS and triggering systems: Developed a critical-incident detection algorithm and integrated triggering model for ACFES. The modular C-code allows easy update and integration across vehicle platforms.
6. Simulation and virtual testing: Built a modular simulation environment (MSE) for crash and compatibility analysis, including material modelling and FES optimization considering manufacturing effects.
1. Future accident scenarios: Developed a comprehensive set of crash scenarios defining impact parameters (speed, angle, energy, geometry) and identified semi-automated (SAV) and automated vehicle (AV) penetration rates and roll-out strategies. Analysed how driving automation affects safety in mixed traffic, considering new impact configurations, vehicle compatibility, and interactions among automated and manually driven vehicles.
2. Innovative FES design: Created circular and eco-designed concepts for both the Base Crashworthiness (BCFES) and Adaptive Front-End Structures (ACFES), optimized for future accident scenarios.
3. Advanced sustainable materials: Developed and optimized carbon-reinforced thermoplastic composites, aluminium alloys, and hybrid components, preparing and testing material samples for scalable lightweight structures.
4. Efficient manufacturing: Optimized high-throughput, low-cost processes for these materials, enhancing production rates, energy efficiency, and waste reduction.
5. ADAS and triggering systems: Developed a critical-incident detection algorithm and integrated triggering model for ACFES. The modular C-code allows easy update and integration across vehicle platforms.
6. Simulation and virtual testing: Built a modular simulation environment (MSE) for crash and compatibility analysis, including material modelling and FES optimization considering manufacturing effects.
SALIENT has achieved the following results:
1. A comprehensive set of new crash scenarios defining key impact parameters (speed, angle, energy, geometry), and identification of SAV and AV traffic penetration rates and roll-out strategies to better predict future accidents.
2. A new Base Crashworthiness FES (BCFES) design with improved multi-angle crashworthiness, and three promising Adaptive Crashworthiness FES (ACFES) concepts:
• AC1FES: Adaptable material stiffness using smart materials/SMAs.
• AC2FES: Controlled crash load paths.
• AC3FES: Inflatable/pressurized structural elements.
The BCFES achieved about 52% weight reduction vs baseline and can be transferred to the Body in White (BiW), enabling lighter and safer vehicle structures. The AC1 crash-box improved frontal crash compatibility, delayed deformation, reduced peak loads, mitigated firewall intrusion, and smoothed acceleration profiles.
3. Development of three lightweight, recyclable, multi-functional materials for the FES: 6063 Al alloy, CFPA6-tape, and hybrid Al/TP-CFRP based on local reinforcement with unidirectional CF tapes. These materials support circularity principles. The CFPA6-tape hybrid can be thermally dissolved and recycled for new components. The single-alloy 6063 design allows about 95% material recovery without property loss.
4. Optimized forming and production technologies for TP-CFRPs and hybrid materials achieving high production rates with >25% energy savings, >20% faster production, 10% cost savings, and <5% waste. The new tool geometry and surface improved line speed and cost-efficiency, producing 5 UD-tapes per line, directly enhancing sustainability and productivity.
5. A novel ADAS sensing algorithm capable of detecting and communicating the details of imminent crashes, coupled with a triggering mechanism (TrM) to activate ACFES systems based on pre-crash signals.
6. An innovative MSE simulation platform providing >10% higher correlation between tests and simulations, >30% broader assessment scope, and >20% higher efficiency in solving simulations. CAE-test correlation reached ≥80% at component level, supporting a full crash analysis for future accident types. Multi-SMA virtual layers increased energy absorption by +22.2%, meeting project targets. In oblique impacts (±30°), BCFES and AC1 outperformed baselines; in heavy truck scenarios, AC1 maintained structural integrity and load capacity.
These achievements feed the SALIENT exploitation strategy, initially identifying 24 Key Exploitable Results (KERs). After prioritization, five KERs were developed into detailed exploitation roadmaps covering needs, tasks, revenues, costs, and financing. The EXPLOITT methodology (H2020) guided the process, assessing commercial potential and defining suitable business models. The strategy was further strengthened with input from the Horizon Results Booster.
1. A comprehensive set of new crash scenarios defining key impact parameters (speed, angle, energy, geometry), and identification of SAV and AV traffic penetration rates and roll-out strategies to better predict future accidents.
2. A new Base Crashworthiness FES (BCFES) design with improved multi-angle crashworthiness, and three promising Adaptive Crashworthiness FES (ACFES) concepts:
• AC1FES: Adaptable material stiffness using smart materials/SMAs.
• AC2FES: Controlled crash load paths.
• AC3FES: Inflatable/pressurized structural elements.
The BCFES achieved about 52% weight reduction vs baseline and can be transferred to the Body in White (BiW), enabling lighter and safer vehicle structures. The AC1 crash-box improved frontal crash compatibility, delayed deformation, reduced peak loads, mitigated firewall intrusion, and smoothed acceleration profiles.
3. Development of three lightweight, recyclable, multi-functional materials for the FES: 6063 Al alloy, CFPA6-tape, and hybrid Al/TP-CFRP based on local reinforcement with unidirectional CF tapes. These materials support circularity principles. The CFPA6-tape hybrid can be thermally dissolved and recycled for new components. The single-alloy 6063 design allows about 95% material recovery without property loss.
4. Optimized forming and production technologies for TP-CFRPs and hybrid materials achieving high production rates with >25% energy savings, >20% faster production, 10% cost savings, and <5% waste. The new tool geometry and surface improved line speed and cost-efficiency, producing 5 UD-tapes per line, directly enhancing sustainability and productivity.
5. A novel ADAS sensing algorithm capable of detecting and communicating the details of imminent crashes, coupled with a triggering mechanism (TrM) to activate ACFES systems based on pre-crash signals.
6. An innovative MSE simulation platform providing >10% higher correlation between tests and simulations, >30% broader assessment scope, and >20% higher efficiency in solving simulations. CAE-test correlation reached ≥80% at component level, supporting a full crash analysis for future accident types. Multi-SMA virtual layers increased energy absorption by +22.2%, meeting project targets. In oblique impacts (±30°), BCFES and AC1 outperformed baselines; in heavy truck scenarios, AC1 maintained structural integrity and load capacity.
These achievements feed the SALIENT exploitation strategy, initially identifying 24 Key Exploitable Results (KERs). After prioritization, five KERs were developed into detailed exploitation roadmaps covering needs, tasks, revenues, costs, and financing. The EXPLOITT methodology (H2020) guided the process, assessing commercial potential and defining suitable business models. The strategy was further strengthened with input from the Horizon Results Booster.