Driver out-of-position injuries mitigation and advanced restraint features development 2001-06-0069
Airbag-related out-of-position (OOP) injuries in automotive
crash accident have drawn great attention by public in recent
years. In the interim-final rule of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards that NHTSA issued in May 2000, OOP static test becomes a
mandatory requirement of new regulation and will be phased in
starting from year 2003. Due to the complexities and constraints of
vehicle design, such as extreme vehicle styling and packaging as
well as multiple safety requirements, it is a great challenge for
both restraint safety suppliers and automobile manufacturers work
together to come up with proper designs to meet requirements of new
regulation and provide additional protection for both in-position
and OOP occupants at various vehicle crash scenarios.
In this paper, the technique of developing advanced restraint
system and mitigating the OOP injuries is described. With the aid
of computer simulation using coupled structural/computational fluid
dynamics scheme in conjunction with laboratory test, various OOP
countermeasures are illustrated. The design guidelines are
outlined. The reduction of OOP injury is demonstrated with proposed
design concepts. A useful and unique tool for advanced restraint
system and OOP protection is developed that yields promising
results.
Author(s):
William Mu
Affiliated:
DaimlerChrysler
Pages: 16
Event:
International Technical Conference on Enhanced Safety of Vehicles