scholarly journals Numerical Simulation of Airbag and Study on the Effect of Airbag Parameters on Head Injury Criteria

Author(s):  
Aakash R

Abstract: In the case of an accident, inflatable restraints system plays a critical role in ensuring the safety of vehicle occupants. Frontal airbags have saved 44,869 lives, according to research conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).Finite element analysis is extremely important in the research and development of airbags in order to ensure optimum protection for occupant. In this work, we simulate a head impact test with a deploying airbag and investigate the airbag's parameters. The airbag's performance is directly influenced by the parameters of the cushion such as vent area and fabric elasticity. The FEM model is analysed to investigate the influence of airbag parameter, and the findings are utilised to determine an optimal value that may be employed in the construction of better occupant safety systems. Keywords: airbag, finite element method, occupant safety, frontal airbag, vent size, fabric elasticity, head injury criteria

Author(s):  
Arnav Gupta

Abstract: A motorcycle helmet is the best protective headgear for the prevention of head injuries due to direct cranial impact. A finite element model based on realistic geometric features of a motorcycle helmet is established, and explicit finite element code is employed to simulate dynamic responses at different impact velocities. Peak acceleration and Head injury criterion values derived from the head form are used to assess the protective performance of the helmet. We have concluded that the dynamic responses of the helmet dramatically vary with impact velocity, as well as the mechanical properties of the outer shell and energy- absorbing liner. At low velocities e.g. 8.3 m/s, the shell stiffness and liner density should be relatively low to diminish head- contact force. At high velocity e.g. 11m/s, a stiffer shell and denser liner offer superior protection against head injuries. Different tests were performed in ansys explicit dynamics solver by taking different materials and calculating PLA, Head Injury Criteria, K.E, P.E, contact energy etc. The results obtained for different materials were then compared with easy other to draw the necessary conclusion’s. Keywords: Peak Linear Acceleration (PLA), Head Injury Criteria.


Transport ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sien Zhou ◽  
Jian Sun ◽  
Xiao An ◽  
Keping Li

Road safety conditions in China have worsened following rapid urbanization and motorization. For a long time now, China has ranked first in the world in the number of road accidents and fatalities. Therefore, evaluating safety levels is essential to implementing effective countermeasures. For developing countries like China, however, assessing safety levels via crash data statistical analysis is difficult because of limitations on a short history of collecting crash data, small samples and an incomplete collection of information. To address these limitations, the method of surrogate safety analysis using the traffic conflict technique (TCT) has become a widely used evaluation procedure. On the basis of the mechanism analysis of TCT, the paper presents a conflict hazardous assessment model (CHAM) for the mixed traffic safety evaluation of urban intersections. In the proposed model, the principle of the conservation of momentum is used. CHAM is a model used for assessing safety levels from the aspects of severe conflict numbers and conflict hazardous levels (CHLs) when traffic conflicts among mixed-traffic modes occur. Factors such as the conflict type and conflict angle of different traffic modes, weight and velocity are considered and incorporated into the model through the integration of the accident collision theory and the head injury criterion (HIC) index for head hazard assessments. The calibration and validation of CHL models are also carried out using 341 intersection crash reports in Beijing from 2006 to 2008. The results show that the established CHL models have good validity. Santrauka Greita urbanizacija ir transporto priemonių skaičiaus didėjimas pablogino kelių saugos sąlygas Kinijoje, kuri jau ilgą laiką pirmauja pasaulyje pagal keliuose įvykstančių nelaimingų atsitikimų ir mirčių skaičių. Todėl saugaus eismo lygio vertinimas ypač svarbus diegiant veiksmingas atsakomąsias priemones. Tokiose besivystančiose šalyse kaip Kinija saugaus eismo lygio vertinimas, pasitelkiant statistinius duomenis apie įvykusius nelaimingus atsitikimus, yra sudėtingas dėl nepakankamai ar netiksliai surinktų duomenų. Remiantis eismo įvykio mechanizmo analize, straipsnyje pristatomas transporto priemonių susidūrimo pavojaus vertinimo modelis, analizuojant įvairių transporto priemonių saugą miesto sankryžose. Pateiktame modelyje naudojamas judesio kiekio tvermės dėsnis. Modelis naudojamas įvertinant saugaus eismo lygius, atsižvelgiant į ypatingus atvejus ir susidūrimo pavojaus lygį, kai eismo įvykiai nutinka tarp skirtingų kategorijų transporto priemonių. Susidūrimo tipas, skirtingų transporto priemonių susidūrimo kampas, svoris ir greitis yra veiksniai, į kuriuos turi būti atsižvelgiama ir kurie yra modelio sudėtinės dalys, sujungiant į visumą transporto priemonių susidūrimo teoriją bei galvos traumų kriterijaus (HIC – head injury criteria) rodiklį. Modelis tikrinamas remiantis informacija apie transporto priemonių susidūrimus Pekine (Kinija) 2006–2008 m. Gauti rezultatai parodė, kad sukurtas modelis yra veiksminga priemonė. Резюме Быстрая урбанизация и темп увеличения количества транспортных средств на дорогах Китая резко ухудшили безопасность дорожного движения. Китай на протяжении многих лет лидирует по числу несчастных случаев (в том числе и со смертельным исходом), происходящих на дорогах. Поэтому оценка уровня безопасности дорожного движения имеет огромное значение при внедрении соответствующих мер. В таких развивающихся странах, как Китай, оценка уровня безопасности дорожного движения с использованием статистических данных осложняется и неэффективна из-за нехватки собранных данных, а зачастую и их неточности. В статье представлена модель оценки угрозы столкновения транспортных средств на городских перекрестках, которая основана на анализе механизма дорожно-транспортного происшествия. В представленной модели используется закон сохранения количества движения. Модель применяется для оценки уровня безопасности дорожного движения с учетом особых случаев, уровня угрозы столкновения и разных категорий транспортных средств. Составными частями модели являют ся тип столкновения, угол столкновения, масса и скорость движения транспортных средств. В модель также включена теория столкновения транспортных средств и критерий тяжести повреждений головы (HIC – head injury criteria). Модель проверена на основе информации о столкновениях транспортных средств в г. Пекине (Китай) в 2006–2008 гг. Полученные результаты свидетельствовали о достоверности представленной модели.


Author(s):  
A Deb ◽  
K C Srinivas

The current paper describes a simple and yet comprehensive lumped-parameter model (LPM) for simulating the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) side-impact safety tests for passenger vehicles. The LPM includes new lumped masses, not previously reported in a single multibody model, for key vehicle side-structure systems identified with the help of an energy-based study conducted using explicit finite element analysis of two passenger vehicles. In addition to the vehicle side structure, lumped masses for the NHTSA side-impact barrier and ‘rest of vehicle’, the latter implying the mass of the vehicle minus the combined mass of the side-structure subsystems considered in the LPM, have been incorporated so that the total mass of the system corresponds to that of an actual vehicle—barrier system in a NHTSA side-impact test (Lateral Impact New Car Assessment Program (LINCAP) or FMVSS 214). The lumped masses are interconnected with elastic—plastic springs. A unique feature of the present model is the inclusion of two lumped side-impact dummies for obtaining predictions of the front and rear (thoracic trauma index (TTI)). The validity of the present LPM is established by performing LS-DYNA-based LINCAP simulations of two real-world vehicles, namely the Dodge Neon and Dodge Intrepid, and obtaining a reasonably good correlation of the computed structural and occupant responses as well as TTI (front and rear) with the corresponding test results reported by the NHTSA.


Author(s):  
Costin D. Untaroiu ◽  
Jacob B. Putnam ◽  
Jeffrey T. Somers ◽  
Joseph A. Pellettiere

New vehicles are currently being developed to transport crews to space by NASA and several commercial companies. During the takeoff and landing phase, vehicle occupants are typically exposed to spinal and frontal loading. To reduce the risk of injuries during these common impact scenarios, NASA has begun research to develop new safety standards for spaceflight. The THOR, an advanced multi-directional crash test dummy, was chosen by NASA to evaluate occupant spacecraft safety due to its improved biofidelity. Recently, a series of modifications were completed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to improve the bio-fidelity of the THOR dummy. The updated THOR Modification Kit (THOR-K) dummy was tested at Wright-Patterson (WP) Air Base in various impact configurations, including frontal and spinal loading. A computational finite element (FE) model of the THOR was developed in LS-DYNA software and was recently updated to match the latest dummy modifications. The main goal of this study was to calibrate and validate the FE model of the THOR-K dummy for use in future spacecraft safety studies. An optimization-based method was developed to calibrate the material properties of the pelvic flesh model under quasi-static and dynamic loading conditions. Data in a simple compression test of pelvic flesh were used for the quasi-static calibration. The whole dummy kinematic and kinetic response under spinal loading conditions was used for the dynamic calibration. The performance of the calibrated dummy model was evaluated by simulating a separate dummy test with a different crash pulse along the spinal direction. In addition, a frontal dummy test was also simulated with the calibrated model. The model response was compared with test data by calculating its correlation score using the CORA rating system. Overall, the calibrated THOR-K dummy model responded with high similarity to the physical dummy in all validation tests. Therefore, confidence is provided in the dummy model for use in predicting response in other test conditions such as those observed in the spacecraft landing.


Author(s):  
Steven Yang ◽  
Kristian Lardner ◽  
Moustafa El-Gindy

This paper presents the use of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software in recreating a full frontal barrier impact test with a 50th percentile male hybrid III dummy to investigate various passenger vehicle airbag deployment times for the development of an airbag trigger sensor. Results for the physical full frontal barrier impact test where prepared by MGA Research Corporation with a 2007 Toyota Yaris. Using a nonlinear transient dynamic FEA software, a virtual full frontal barrier impact test was created to reproduce the physical results and trends experienced in the physical crash test found in a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 5677. The results of the simulation were compared to the results of the physical crash which produced similar trends, but not the same values. The simulation was then used in testing different passenger vehicle airbag deployment times to see its results on specific occupant injury criteria’s; Head Injury Criterion (HIC), Chest Compression Criterion (CC). Four different vehicle speeds where used; 20 km/h, 40 km/h, 56 km/h, and 90 km/h in conjunction with a range of +/− 6 milliseconds in the airbag deployment timing. Results of the airbag deployment timing showed that trends of faster airbag deployment times resulted in lower values for HIC and CC. Following these trends, suggestions for airbag deployment trigger distances were developed to aid in creation of an advanced airbag deployment sensor or crash sensor. While the simulation has yet to be validated, the trends may be assessed and actual values may differ.


1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Sances ◽  
Brian Herbst ◽  
Stephen Forrest ◽  
Steven E. Meyer ◽  
Anil V. Khadilkar

Abstract Padding materials are routinely used to reduce the potential for head injury. The interior of vehicles has been identified as an area where injury can occur in the absence of padding. Head impacts with roof, pillars and support structures have been studied by Fan, Monk, and Friedman. Recent rulemaking by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has identified padding as a potential mechanism for reduction in head injury. Helmets utilize padding for energy management so as to reduce the potential for head injury. (Meyers, Becker). The occurrence of diffuse axonal injury with direct impacts and translational accelerations have been evaluated by Nishimoto. Mclean has suggested that brain injury does not occur without head impact.


Author(s):  
M.S. Salwani ◽  
Aidy Ali ◽  
B.B. Sahari ◽  
A.A. Nuraini

This paper presents the results for Head Injury Criteria (HIC) and Chest Severity Index (CSI) of an adult occupant in frontal impact. The component being studied is side member as impact energy absorber. Steel side member is used as the benchmark material, whereas aluminum alloy is used as lightweight material. Crash analyses are conducted using nonlinear finite element analysis software Ls-dyna. The effect of different types of aluminum alloy and component thickness on the HIC, CSI, weight and energy absorbed is assessed and discussed. A cost function is then formulated with the geometrical average method to solve the multi-objective problem. The HIC36 and CSI are set as minimum requirements in the optimization. The materials used was Aluminium alloy of AA 5182 AA5751. It was found that AA5751 with inner and outer thickness of 2.8 mm and 4.9 mm respectively, provides a reduction in mass of 1.03 kg compared with steel and has energy absorbed of 11.9 kJ. The lowest values of HIC36 and CSI obtained are 1146 and 665.4 respectively.


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