Structures for Energy Dissipation in Safety Protection Systems

Several recent patents on energy dissipation structures for building and vehicle safety systems are reviewed and summarized within this manuscript. The safety of buildings or vehicle occupants can be greatly improved through application of energy dissipation structures. Use of these specialty devices typically results in reduction of damage to susceptible regions of building structures and more importantly the reduction of injury and/or fatality probability. These energy dissipation devices act as critical structural members within the load path of the system and absorb impact energy to prevent the structural damage to the main building structures or vehicular components to ensure no compromise of the occupant compartment of a vehicle. The main mechanism for structural energy dissipation is associated with plastic, hysteric, or irreversible deformation of sacrificial materials/entities. Brief comments on future development directions for energy dissipation mechanisms have also been presented.