HORK Enterprises
3221 Quick Road
Holly, MI 48442, USA
 +1 (248) 328-0231
 consult@hork.com

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Assembled on this page are some examples of our work. Not all our customers appreciate publicity, so we limit ourselves to sharing public information and generic examples. Over the course of the years we have worked on the restraint systems of dozens of vehicles. Some are more memorable than others. Especially the ones that introduced new technologies have stuck. Others are memorable, because of personal reasons. On this page we have some of them assembled. Some more are waiting in the wings, but cannot yet be revealed. Vehicle occupant simulation models are traditionally used for the analysis and optimization of restraint systems for frontal impact. They may, however, also be employed for roll-over analysis and side impact analysis. Rapid development of a model and careful validation against test results ensures that it can make a valuable contribution to the restraint system integration process. The use of simulation analysis has strongly increased to keep the development time of the next generation intelligent restraint systems in check. The first generation of airbags was designed to catch an unbelted adult male in a 30mph frontal crash. The power needed for this proved to be too much for short statue, closely seated drivers and small children. The government responded by first changing the requirements such that the industry could de-power the airbags. Five years of research and development followed, leading to the introduction of many new technologies. This all culminated in the "Advanced Airbag Rule". Side impact analysis differs from frontal impact analysis in that the vehicle structure directly interacts with the occupant. This requires detailed modeling of that structure. Whereas Finite Element Analysis is used in the latter stages of the design, a simpler model comprising linked rigid bodies is often sufficient for the early stages. With the increase in popularity of SUVs in the second half of the 1990s, roll-over accidents became more prevalent. The existing restraints, specifically seat belts, did not provide optimum protection for occupants in roll-over accidents. Seat belt systems were enhanced and restraint systems, specifically designed for protection of occupants involved in roll-over accidents, were developed. Challenges for the analysts included the relatively long duration of a roll-over event, which put strains on the computational resources. In Multi-Physics analysis different engineering branches meet to solve a problem. In airbag analysis the gases deploying the cushion are described with Eulerian physics, while the structure is decribed with Lagrangian physics. In battery temperature control it is transient heat transfer analysis combined with Navier-Stokes fluid analysis. Such combinations require a little extra both from the software and from the analyst. Maybe that's why we like it so much. On the subject page examples of fluid-structure interaction, battery temperature control, and acoustics are presented. Vehicle and Occupant Crash analysis require enormous computer resources. Throughout the 80's and 90' car companies would typically have one or several Cray super-computers to do the number-crunching. In the 90's smaller, RISC based Unix workstations were making inroads that would become seriously powerful by the middle of the decade. ... and then came the little PC and the linux operating system that gave birth to compute clusters. Then the CPUs got a dozen or more cores... Crash dummy models are indispensible tools for the development of restraint systems with the aid of computer simulations. Models need to be a genuine representation of the real thing, which requires careful validation against test results. They also need to be efficient in their use such that the analysis can keep up with the development program. We have a long track record of dummy database development, employing combinations of multi-body and finite element techniques. Although seldom life threatening, lower extremity injuries can be very debilitating. Computer simulations were once again used to conceptualize a new type of airbag device. This one, called the Seat Cushion Restraint System, rises from the seat to lift the legs up. This in turn lifts the feet off the toe board. It would be deployed in case of a frontal collision to mitigate the injuries to the lower extremities caused by toe board intrusion. A concept in 1995, a patent in 1997, and since implemented in various guises. Foam and other impact absorbing materials are finding ever more use in the vehicle environment. With the expansion of the FMVSS 201, research intensified to find economic ways to make the vehicle interior more friendly to head impact. A thorough understanding of the way padding materials absorb energy is a start towards achieving that goal. Although statistically air travel is much safer than travel by car, air plane accidents do still grab the publics' attention. Especially if it seems that the "hard landing" was of a survivable nature. The aircraft industry has adopted standards to increase the survivability of plane crashes by ensuring certain levels of structural strength. The same tools that have been used in the automotive industry to assess strength under dynamic conditions are also finding their way into the aircraft industry. Plastics, rubbers, and fiber reinforced composites slowly take on a larger and larger part of total content of a vehicle. They have, however, their own set of properties, manufacturing techniques, and uses. Often the final properties are not established until the product is in its ultimate finished form. Computer Aided Engineering and Finite Element Analysis therefore play an important role in the development of such products as does materials research.