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This paper presents a method for optimizing occupant restraint system parameters in vehicle frontal crashes. Simulation models incorporating restraint systems and dummies are used for predicting injury indexes. A full-scale survey of all of the design parameters related to the injury indexes would require a vast number of simulations. Therefore, the Design of Experiments (DOE) method involving a minimum number of experiments is more realistic. However, dummy behavior often shows discontinuity if the dummy comes in contact with the steering wheel, so it is not predicted well with usual DOE methods. This paper shows how to incorporate such discontinuity in a DOE study and how to optimize the restraint system parameters to reduce occupant injury indexes. It also discusses the feasibility of this method for integrated optimization of 50th percentile and 5th percentile dummies.

Recently, frontal impact compatibility is discussed internationally and various procedures to assess compatibility and various measures to improve compatibility have been proposed. Considering the above, car-to-car tests between a heavy car and a light car were conducted to clarify the effect of homogenizing the front structure on compatibility. Then correlation between the results of the barrier impact tests proposed as the procedures to assess compatibility and the car-to-car test results and the requirements for the assessment procedure were discussed.