Automobile collision imitation software, the first of its kind in China, has been developed by Professor Zhong Zhihua at Hunan University based in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province.

Professor Zhong Zhihua, who has been engaged in research on automobile safety designing since 1985, said the software is close to the fastest in the world, has met the world's advanced standards in terms of precision, and is fully applicable to collisions of all automobiles.

The software, which is now loaded into the "Shenwei No.1" super computer at the Shanghai Mega-Computer Center, will provide China with a modern means of automobile safety designing.

Zhong used to work as an associate professor with a university in Sweden. He now tutors doctorate students at Hunan University.

China lags behind other countries in automobile safety design, which restricts the development of the country's auto industry. In a move to prepare for challenges arising from the country’s admission into the World Trade Organization (WTO), China decided that automobiles without safety tests should not be marketed in the country starting from next year.

Previously, safety design for new types of automobiles and related testing were carried out by way of designing and producing several cars of the same model, conducting repeated collisions on them, making gradual adjustments until these cars eventually met the required security standards. Such method made production of new automobiles take longer time and cost more.

Safety functions of newly developed automobiles can be ensured when the computer loaded with the software carries out collision simulations, so only several rounds of testing of collisions on real automobiles will be needed, which in turn will shorten the period for development of new automobiles and eventually lower the production costs, said experts.

They said Zhong's software will be of value for advancing China 's capability to develop new cars, and enhancing the competitiveness of Made-in-China automobiles on the international market.

(Xinhua News Agency 07/29/2001)