General approach of plastic hinges formed on thin-walled tubes in the design of a bus frame

Plastic hinge is one of the basic element when designing a bus frame from the view point of passive safety. The paper gives a definition for plastic hinge formed on thin-walled rectangular steel tubes and shows the different types of these hinges. The main characteristics and most important parameters are shown and some test results are given for different kind of plasting hinges, which can be used when designing a bus body for a rollover or front impact accidents.