Sled Test Development and Occupant Protection Evaluation Based on the Frontal Crash Response of Heavy Trucks

Current highly automated vehicle concepts include reclined seat layouts that could allow occupants to relax during the drive. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effects of seat pan and pelvis angles on the kinematics and injury risk of a reclined occupant by numerical simulation of a frontal sled test. The occupant, represented by a detailed 50th percentile male human body model, was positioned on a semi-rigid seat. Three seat pan angles (5, 15, and 25 degrees from the horizontal) were used, all with a seatback angle of 40 degrees from the vertical. Three pelvis angles (60, 70, and 80 degrees from the vertical), representing a nominal and two relaxed sitting positions, were used for each seat pan angle. The model was restrained using a pre-inflated airbag and a three-point seatbelt equipped with a pretensioner and a load limiter before being subjected to two frontal crash pulses. Both model kinematic response and predicted injury risk were affected by the seat pan and the pelvis angles in a reclined seatback position. Submarining occurrence and injury risk increased with lower seat pan angle, higher pelvis angle, and acceleration pulse severity. In some cases (in particular for a 15 degrees seat pan), a small variation in seat pan or pelvis angle resulted in large differences in terms of kinematics and predicted injury. This study highlights the potential effects of the seat pan and pelvis angles for reclined occupant protection. These parameters should be assessed experimentally with volunteers to determine which combinations are most likely to be adopted for comfort and with post mortem human surrogates to confirm their significance during impact and to provide data for model validation. The sled and restraint models used in this study are provided under an open-source license to facilitate further comparisons.

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Secondary Impact Protection for Locomotive Engineers – Improved Airbag Design

2021 Joint Rail Conference ◽

10.1115/jrc2021-58523 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jeffrey Gordon ◽

Florentina M. Gantoi ◽

Som P. Singh ◽

Anand Prabhakaran

Keyword(s):

Motor Vehicle ◽

Secondary Impact ◽

Sled Test ◽

Safety Standards ◽

Occupant Protection ◽

Injury Index ◽

Impact Protection ◽

Passenger Airbag ◽

Locomotive Engineer ◽

System 1

Abstract Under the locomotive cab occupant protection research program sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Sharma & Associates, Inc. (SA) developed a Secondary Impact Protection System (SIPS) for locomotive engineers. The system uses a large, automotive-style, passenger airbag in combination with a deformable knee bolster to provide the level of protection needed for the locomotive engineer, without compromising the normal operating environment and egress. A prior version of the system [1] was prototyped and tested in a dynamic sled test with a 23g crash pulse and was shown to meet most limiting human injury criteria defined in the Department of Transportation (DOT)’s Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS 208) [2] for the head, chest, neck, and femur. The system also showed marginal performance for the chest injury index and indicated potential for an improved airbag design to fully meet all requirements. In the current study, simulations with an optimized airbag and higher capacity inflator system showed that SIPS can provide excellent occupant protection for an unbelted locomotive occupant in a frontal crash. Sled testing of SIPS confirmed the performance, and the system successfully met all eleven (11) criteria of the FMVSS 208 standard [2]. The shape and position of the airbag module and its attachments to the desk were generally the same as those presented in previous research. The key changes that helped meet all criteria were the higher capacity inflators, knee bolster system brackets moved forward, thicker knee plate, higher volume airbag and additional vents.

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Structure Improvement of the S Beam Based on the Safety of SUV

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.34-35.675 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 34-35 ◽

pp. 675-680

Author(s):

Jun Wu ◽

Li Bo Cao ◽

Tian Zhi Chen ◽

Chen Chen Hu ◽

Bing Hui Jiang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rigid Body ◽

Crash Test ◽

Fe Model ◽

Frontal Impact ◽

Frontal Crash ◽

Occupant Protection ◽

Body Model ◽

Crash Safety ◽

Rigid Body Model ◽

Structure Improvement

The S beam of a production SUV appeared instable deformation in frontal crash test, which was not beneficial to occupant protection. So the deformation of S beam should be controlled to improve the crashworthiness. Inner improvement structures were proposed according to the prototype S beam. A frontal crash FE model and a multi-rigid body model were developed and validated to investigate the crash safety of frontal impact. The influences of the improvements to the deformation of S beam and the energy absorption of longitudinal beams were analyzed by the FE model, and the injury risks of head and thoraces were analyzed by the multi-rigid body model. The better improvement structure was adopted in the frame for the crash test to validate the effectiveness of improved scheme, and the result shows better crash performance of frontal impact for prototype vehicle. Meanwhile, simulation study on crash safety of 40% offset crash were also conducted, which indicated that improved scheme was also beneficial for crash safety of 40% offset crash.

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J0201-1-2 Feasibility study for an occupant protection seal device in vehicle frontal crash

The proceedings of the JSME annual meeting ◽

10.1299/jsmemecjo.2010.6.0_189 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2010.6 (0) ◽

pp. 189-190

Author(s):

Kouichi OOTA ◽

Hiroshige NAGUMO ◽

Tomosaburo OKABE

Keyword(s):

Feasibility Study ◽

Frontal Crash ◽

Occupant Protection

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System-level Sled Test Methodology to Optimize Restraints for Small Overlap Frontal Crash Tests

International Journal of Automotive Engineering ◽

10.20485/jsaeijae.10.1_94 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 94-99

Author(s):

Kim Hee Seok ◽

Yoon Jong Pil

Keyword(s):

System Level ◽

Frontal Crash ◽

Sled Test ◽

Test Methodology ◽

Crash Tests ◽

Small Overlap

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Influence of Wheels on Frontal Crash Response of Small Lightweight Electric Vehicle

Volume 12: Transportation Systems ◽

10.1115/imece2015-50699 ◽

2015 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

SongAn Zhang ◽

Qing Zhou ◽

Yong Xia

Keyword(s):

Electric Vehicle ◽

Load Transfer ◽

Impact Load ◽

Structural Deformation ◽

Load Path ◽

Frontal Crash ◽

Electric Car ◽

Crash Response ◽

The Impact ◽

Small Overlap

For vehicle frontal crash, the front wheels may affect impact load transfer and load path, and to some extent, the tire deformation may contribute to crash energy absorption. The effects would be especially prominent when it comes to the cases of micro car, offset crash and electric car. For a micro or small car, the front compartment space is small and the wheels are relatively large, and so the wheel’s role on transferring impact load to the A-pillar and the rocker is more significant and the energy absorbed by the tire deformation contributes to a relatively large portion. Moreover, in the case of an offset or small overlap collision, the wheel impacted is apparently engaged at a deeper level than that in full frontal crash. For an electric car when its electric motor is positioned in the rear of the car, the front compartment does not have space-taking engine and so the structural deformation and space use are more affected by the wheels. In this paper, by finite element simulations using a small lightweight electric vehicle (SLEV) model, the above-mentioned aspects are studied. The model has no complex components, and therefore is suitable for parametric study. The influence of the front wheels on the impact load transfer and the energy absorbed by the tire deformation are analyzed. Also front crash results of SLEV are compared with Yaris to show how front wheels affect load path in crash. The results show that the influence of wheels on frontal crash response of small lightweight electric vehicles should not be ignored and should be an integral part of crash safety design.

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Optimization of the Frontal Rail Based on Composite Material

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.229-231.321 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 229-231 ◽

pp. 321-324

Author(s):

Hong Tao Yu ◽

Lei Liu ◽

Gui Fan Zhao ◽

Zi Peng Zhang

Keyword(s):

Composite Material ◽

Head Injury ◽

Element Model ◽

Test Method ◽

Vehicle Safety ◽

Frontal Crash ◽

Sled Test ◽

Full Vehicle ◽

Orthogonal Test Method ◽

The Finite Element Model

Frontal rail constructed of composite material was researched, in order to improving vehicle safety performance in frontal crash as well as lightweight of vehicle. Compliance to FMVSS 208, the vehicle frontal crash was simulated using the finite element model of the full vehicle. The occupant head injury was analyzed by sled test using crash pulse. Then, the composite material parameters which have the best function of reducing the occupant head injury value were studied by using orthogonal test method. Using this kind of composite materials, the occupant safety protection was effectively improved and the weight of the frontal rail was greatly reduced.

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