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Structure-occupant related method, which uses some structural analysis results for inputs of occupant simulation, has being used widely even if it is difficult to describe real crash precisely. The method is not proper to simulate complex situation such as an occupant behavior restrained with air bag in out-of-position impact. A structure-occupant integrated method is needed to analyze these sophisticated problems in the early stage of design. Therefore, Hyundai Motor Co. tried to develop the method, and the process is described in this paper. The integrated vehicle model includes Hybrid III dummy, air bag, seat belt and interior detail models. The interior detail models are instrument panel, knee bolsters, steering wheel and column, and seats. The part models were compared with the part test results and they were merged into larger models only if they passed correlation test.

The paper describes an engineering project carried out to optimize the crashworthiness of an existing passenger car for frontal crash using a procedure relying on numerical simulation. An optimization target is defined in terms of an ideal acceleration pulse at the seats anchors. The acceleration time history and structural members are scanned in parallel to correlate the local acceleration peaks to specific structural members. Members details are iteratively modified in order to alter the accelerations and get closer to the target.