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A recent study of U.S. crash data has shown that children 0-23 months of age in forward-facing child restraint systems (FFCRS) are 76% more likely to be seriously injured in comparison to children in rear-facing child restraint systems (RFCRS). Motivated by the epidemiological data, seven sled tests of dummies in child seats were performed at the University of Virginia using a crash pulse similar to FMVSS 213 test conditions. The tests showed an advantage for RFCRS; however, real-world crashes include a great deal of variability among factors that may affect the relative performance of FFCRS and RFCRS. Therefore, this research developed MADYMO computational models of these tests and varied several real-world parameters. These models used ellipsoid models of Q-series child dummies and facet surface models of American- and Swedish- style convertible child restraints (CRS).

A finite element (FE) model of the lower limb was developed to improve the understanding of injury mechanisms of thigh, knee, and leg during car-to-pedestrian impacts and to aid in the design of injury countermeasures for vehicle front-ends. The geometry of the model was reconstructed from CT scans of the Visible Human Project Database and commercial anatomical databases. The geometry and mass were scaled to those of a 50th percentile male and the entire lower limb was positioned in a standing position according to the published anthropometric references. A "structural approach" was utilized to generate the FE mesh using mostly hexahedral and quadrilateral elements to enhance the computational efficiency of the model. The material properties were selected based on a synthesis on current knowledge of the constitutive models for each tissue.

It has been reported that lower extremity injuries represent a measurable portion of all moderate-to-severe automobile crash- related injuries. Thus, a simple tool to assist with the design of leg and foot injury countermeasures is desirable. The objective of this study is to develop a mathematical model which can predict load propagation and kinematics of the foot and leg in frontal automotive impacts. A multi-body model developed at the University of Virginia and validated for blunt impact to the whole foot has been used as basis for the current work. This model includes representations of the tibia, fibula, talus, hindfoot, midfoot and forefoot bones. Additionally, the model provides a means for tensioning the Achilles tendon. In the current study, the simulations conducted correspond to tests performed by the Transport Research Laboratory and the University of Nottingham on knee-amputated cadaver specimens.

This research investigates the variation of pedestrian stance in pedestrian-automobile impact using a validated multi-body vehicle and human model. Detailed vehicle models of a small family car and a sport utility vehicle (SUV) are developed and validated for impact with a 50th percentile human male anthropometric ellipsoid model, and different pedestrian stances (struck limb forward, feet together, and struck limb backward) are investigated. The models calculate the physical trajectory of the multi-body models including head and torso accelerations, as well as pelvic force loads. This study shows that lower limb orientation during a pedestrian-automobile impact plays a dominant role in upper body kinematics of the pedestrian. Specifically, stance has a substantial effect on the subsequent impacts of the head and thorax with the vehicle. The variation in stance can change the severity of an injury incurred during an impact by changing the impact region.

Given the increased use of programmable embedded electronic systems (PEES) in automotive applications and their vital importance, it is not only important for engineers to design PEES in such a way to meet or exceed safety requirements but also quantify how “safe” these systems are. At the University of Virginia's Center for Safety-Critical Systems, we have developed a safety quantification methodology for embedded real time safety-related systems. The goal of the safety quantification methodology is to provide a generic but rigorous and systematic way of characterizing the dependability behavior of embedded systems that is applicable to a broad range of applications from automotive to nuclear. This paper presents a quantitative safety assessment methodology for safety-critical embedded systems using fault injection (FI). This methodology has been developed, refined and applied to a number of commercial safety-grade systems in the railway, nuclear and avionics industries.

The THOR-NT dummy has been developed and continuously improved by NHTSA to provide automotive manufacturers an advanced tool that can be used to assess the injury risk of vehicle occupants in crash tests. With the recent improvements of finite element (FE) technology and the increase of computational power, a validated FE model of THOR may provide an efficient tool for the design optimization of vehicles and their restraint systems. The main goal of this study was to improve biofidelity of a head-neck FE model of THOR-NT dummy. A three-dimensional FE model of the head and neck was developed in LS-Dyna based on the drawings of the THOR dummy. The material properties of deformable parts and the joints properties between rigid parts were assigned initially based on data found in the literature, and then calibrated using optimization techniques.

Computer simulations, dummy experiments with a new enhanced upper extremity, and small female cadaver experiments were used to analyze the small female upper extremity response under side air bag loading. After establishing the initial position, three tests were performed with the 5th percentile female hybrid III dummy, and six experiments with small female cadaver subjects. A new 5th percentile female enhanced upper extremity was developed for the dummy experiments that included a two-axis wrist load cell in addition to the existing six-axis load cells in both the forearm and humerus. Forearm pronation was also included in the new dummy upper extremity to increase the biofidelity of the interaction with the handgrip. Instrumentation for both the cadaver and dummy tests included accelerometers and magnetohydrodynamic angular rate sensors on the forearm, humerus, upper and lower spine.

Previous research has suggested that the pediatric ATD spine, developed from scaling the adult ATD spine, may not adequately represent a child's spine and thus may lead to important differences in the ATD head trajectory relative to a human. To gain further insight into this issue, the objectives of this study were, through non-injurious frontal sled tests on human volunteers, to 1) quantify the kinematic responses of the restrained child's head and spine and 2) compare pediatric kinematic responses to those of the adult. Low-speed frontal sled tests were conducted using male human volunteers (20 subjects: 6-14 years old, 10 subjects: 18-40 years old), in which the safety envelope was defined from an amusement park bumper-car impact.

In 1972, the first SAE paper describing the use of computer simulation as a design tool for automotive air conditioning was written by these authors. Since then, many such simulations have been used and new tools such as CFD have been applied to this problem. This paper reviews the work over that past 35 years and presents several of the improvements in the basic component and system models that have occurred. The areas where “empirical” information is required for model support and the value of CFD cabin and external air flow modeling are also discussed.

A biaxial test procedure is used to assess the constitutive properties of polymers in tension. The constitutive constants are derived for high strain rate applications such as those associated with crashworthiness studies. The test procedure is used in conjunction with a time- and strain-dependent quasi-linear viscoelastic constitutive law consisting of a Mooney-Rivlin formulation combined with Maxwell elements. The procedure is demonstrated by describing the stress vs. strain relationship of a rubber specimen subjected to a step-relaxation input. The constitutive equation is transformed from a nonlinear convolution integral to a set of first order differential equations. These equations, with the appropriate boundary conditions, are solved numerically to obtain transient stresses in two principal directions. Material constants for use in the explicit LS-Dyna non-linear finite element code are provided.

Advanced design of modern engine cooling and vehicle HVAC components involves sophisticated simulation. In particular, front end air flow models must be able to cover the complete range of conditions from idle to high road speeds involving multiple fans of varying types both powered and unpowered. This paper presents a model for electric radiator cooling fans which covers the complete range of powered and unpowered (freewheel) operation. The model applies equally well to mechanical drive fans.

In recent years, there has been a growing desire to incorporate computational methods into aircraft icing certification practices. To improve understanding of ice shapes, a new experimental program in the NASA Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) will investigate swept hybrid models which are very large relative to the test section and are intended to operate at high lift coefficients. The present computations were conducted to help plan the experiments and to ascertain any effects of flow separation and unsteady forces. As they can be useful in robustly and accurately predicting large separation regions and capturing flow unsteadiness, a Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) approach has been adopted for simulating the flow over these large high-lift wing sections. The DES methodology was first validated using experimental data from an unswept NACA 0012 airfoil with leading-edge ice accretion, showing reasonable performance.

While over 30% of US occupant fatalities occur in rollover crashes, no dummy has been developed for such a condition. Currently, an efficient, cost-effective methodology is being implemented to develop a biofidelic rollover dummy. Instead of designing a rollover dummy from scratch, this methodology identifies a baseline dummy and modifies it to improve its response in a rollover crash. Using computational models of the baseline dummy, including both multibody (MB) and finite element (FE) models, the dummy’s structure is continually modified until its response is aligned (using BioRank/CORA metric) with biofidelity targets. A previous study (Part I) identified the THOR dummy as a suitable baseline dummy by comparing the kinematic responses of six existing dummies with PMHS response corridors through laboratory rollover testing.

Effects of a cabin-level humidity upset on an activated carbon column used for adsorption of trace compounds from air are examined through a series of experiments and computer simulations. Breakthrough curves measured for dichloromethane in the presence of water indicate that a rapid increase in relative humidity can displace large quantities of dichloromethane from the adsorbed phase resulting in effluent streams containing more than 20 times the feed concentration. Additionally, the breakthrough time for organic compounds is reduced significantly at high relative humidity. Numerical simulation results show favorable qualitative agreement with measured breakthrough curves, yet do not consistently predict accurate water or dichloromethane loadings at all experimental conditions.

Current state-of-the-art vehicles implement pedestrian protection features that rely on pedestrian detection sensors and algorithms to trigger when impacting a pedestrian. During the development phase, the vehicle must “learn” to discriminate pedestrians from the rest of potential impacting objects. Part of the training data used in this process is often obtained in physical tests utilizing legform impactors whose external biofidelity is still to be evaluated. This study uses THUMS as a reference to assess the external biofidelity of the most commonly used impactors (Flex-PLI, PDI-1 and PDI-2). This biofidelity assessment was performed by finite element simulation measuring the bumper beam forces exerted by each surrogate on a sedan and a SUV. The bumper beam was divided in 50 mm sections to capture the force distribution in both vehicles. This study, unlike most of the pedestrian-related literature, examines different impact locations and velocities.

Thoracic trauma is the principle causative factor in 30% of road traffic deaths. Researchers have developed force-deflection corridors of the thorax for various loading conditions in order to elucidate injury mechanisms and to validate the mechanical response of ATDs and numerical human models. A corridor, rather than a single response characteristic, results from the variability inherent in biological experimentation. This response variability is caused by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The intrinsic factors are associated with individual differences among human subjects, e.g., the differences in material properties and in body geometry. The extrinsic sources of variability include fluctuations in the loading and supporting conditions in experimental tests.

Some rollover testing methodologies require specification of vehicle kinematic parameters including travel speed, vertical velocity, roll rate, and pitch angle, etc. at the initiation of vehicle to ground contact, which have been referred to as touchdown conditions. The complexity of the vehicle, as well as environmental and driving input characteristics make prediction of realistic touchdown conditions for rollover crashes, and moreover, identification of parameter sensitivities of these characteristics, is difficult and expensive without simulation tools. The goal of this study was to study the sensitivity of driver input on touchdown parameters and the risk of rollover in cases of steering-induced soil-tripped rollovers, which are the most prevalent type of rollover crashes. Knowing the range and variation of touchdown parameters and their sensitivities would help in picking realistic parameters for simulating controlled rollover tests.

Friction materials used in the brake linings of automobiles, trucks, buses and other vehicles are required to satisfy a number of performance demands: they must provide a dependable, consistent level of friction, excellent resistance to wear, adequate heat dissipation, structural integrity, low cost and, if possible, light weight. No single material can meet all of these often conflicting performance criteria, and as a consequence, multiphase composites have been developed, consisting typically of a dozen or more different materials. The choice of materials is crucial in determining the performance attained, yet to date, braking material compositions have been developed largely on the basis of empirical observations.

This paper presents a load distribution-specific viscoelastic structural characterization of the Hybrid III 50th percentile male anthropomorphic test dummy thorax. The dummy is positioned supine on a high-speed material testing machine and ramp-and-hold tests are performed using a distributed load, a hub load, and a diagonal belt load applied to the anterior thorax of the dummy. The force-deflection response is shown to be linear viscoelastic for all loading conditions when the internal dummy instrumentation is used to measure chest deflection. When an externally measured displacement (i.e., a measurement that includes the superficial skin material) is used for the characterization, a quasilinear viscoelastic characterization is necessary. Linear and quasilinear viscoelastic model coefficients are presented for all three loading conditions.

Multibody human models are widely used to investigate responses of human during an automotive crash. This study aimed to validate a commercially available multibody human body model against response corridors from volunteer tests conducted by Naval BioDynamics Laboratory (NBDL). The neck model consisted of seven vertebral bodies, and two adjacent bodies were connected by three orthogonal linear springs and dampers and three orthogonal rotational springs and dampers. The stiffness and damping characteristics were scaled up or down to improve the biofidelity of the neck model against NBDL volunteer test data because those characteristics were encrypted due to confidentiality. First, sensitivity analysis was performed to find influential scaling factors among the entire set using a design of experiment.