Search Results

This paper presents a parametric study that utilized the CVS/ATB multi-body simulation program to investigate the interaction of the hand and wrist with a door handgrip during side air bag loading. The goal was to quantify the relative severity of various hand and handgrip positions as a guide in the selection of a test matrix for laboratory testing. The air bag was represented as a multi-body system of ellipsoidal surfaces that were created to simulate a prototype seat-mounted thorax side air bag. All simulations were set in a similar static test environment as used in corresponding dummy and cadaver side air bag testing. The occupant mass and geometric properties were based on a 5th percentile female occupant in order to represent a high-risk segment of the adult population. The upper extremity model consisted of wrist and forearm rotations that were based on human volunteer data.