Water Shock Experiments on Automotive Underbody Panels

Abstract

Automotive underbody panels are susceptible to water shock loading that can be generated by driving over a puddle at high speeds. The thin panels can be permanently deformed or fail if the loading is large enough. Aluminum underbody panels are bolted into a custom test rig and subjected to water jet loading from a commercial pressure washer. The force on the panels is measured using four load cells and displacement data is captured using three-dimensional image correlation. The flow field is characterized using orthogonally mounted high speed cameras to determine the jet velocity. Additional experiments are performed using a custom water cannon that fires slugs of water contained in latex balloons at the underbody panels. This more accurately recreates the water splash event created when driving over a puddle. The velocity and shape of the water slugs are measured using orthogonally mounted cameras.