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This study addresses the virtual optimization of the technical specifications for a recently developed Advanced Pedestrian Legform Impactor (aPLI). The aPLI incorporates a number of enhancements for improved lower limb injury predictability with respect to its predecessor, the FlexPLI. It also incorporates an attached Simplified Upper Body Part (SUBP) that enables the impactor’s applicability to evaluate pedestrian’s lower limb injury risk also with high-bumper cars. The response surface methodology was applied to optimize both the aPLI’s lower limb and SUBP specifications, while imposing a total mass upper limit of 25 kg that complies with international standards for maximum weight lifting allowed for a single operator in the laboratory setting. All parameters were virtually optimized considering variable interaction, which proved critical to avoid misleading specifications.

Current legform impact test methods using the FlexPLI have been developed to protect pedestrians from lower limb injuries in collisions with low-bumper vehicles. For this type of vehicles, the influence of the upper body on the bending load generated in the lower limb is compensated by setting the impact height of the FlexPLI 50 mm above that of pedestrians. However, neither the effectiveness of the compensation method of the FlexPLI nor the influence of the upper body on the bending load generated in the lower limb of a pedestrian has been clarified with high-bumper vehicles. In this study, therefore, two computer simulation analyses were conducted in order to analyze: (1) The influence of the upper body on the bending load generated in the lower limb of a pedestrian when impacted by high-bumper vehicles and (2) The effectiveness of the compensation method for the lack of the upper body by increasing impact height of the FlexPLI for high-bumper vehicles.