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A growing set of barrier tests has to be taken into account to design side impact restraints meeting worldwide safety requirements. This paper shows an efficient design process to meet side impact requirements using smart testing and simulation. While full vehicle FE structural analysis is widely used, model sizes have been increasing which prohibits efficient design optimisation. The use of Prescribed Structural Motion (PSM) provides an efficient alternative for restraint optimisation. The objective in a typical PSM simulation is to approximate a complex (CPU expensive) loading scenario by prescribing (a part of the) structural nodal positions in time. Results show that design modifications based on MADYMO PSM simulation provide the expected safety performance in hardware testing. Furthermore, it will be shown that the ModeFRONTIER optimisation and stochastics can be effectively used to optimize the design while taking design robustness into account.

The paper presents a simulation methodology created to support an integrated safety system development process which was tested for the side impact collision load case. The methodology is based on the coupled and complementary use of two software packages: PreScan and Madymo. PreScan was utilized for designing two traffic scenarios and the sensing and control systems for the side collision recognition, while Madymo was utilized for assessing the effects of pre-crash deployment of thorax airbag. The collision conditions from the scenarios were used as input to define a Madymo side collision model of the host vehicle and to investigate and optimize several airbag deployment parameters: pre-crash deployment time, airbag permeability, vent hole size and vent hole opening time.

Across the world different regulations are applicable for side impact, each require a different restraint system approach. However it would be much more cost effective to develop one single restraint system suitable for all global requirements. An efficient methodology has been developed to optimize the restraint system for multiple load cases simultaneously, resulting in a restraint system specification that will ensure that global targets are met. The methodology combines the use of testing and efficient numerical simulation to find a solution in the most effective way.