Numerical Simulation of Interaction Between a Passenger Car Airbag and an Anthropomorphic Dummy Model

Abstract

The paper considers a finite-element numerical simulation of interaction between an airbag and an anthropomorphic dummy model, presenting a case study of a passenger car subjected to oblique frontal impact, as per UN passive safety Regulation no. 94. A system of conservation equations for mass, impulse and energy forms the basis of the simulation. We used a penalty method as a contact algorithm. We investigated three situations: 1) one including the seat belt and the airbag; 2) one including the belt but not the airbag; 3) one including the airbag without the belt. The airbag simulation took into account the specifics of its deployment process and its position within the steering wheel. The seat belt simulation included simplified models of the retracting and locking devices. The computation results showed that our finite-element numerical simulation of interaction between the airbag and the anthropomorphic dummy model makes assessing the test device injury rate possible; absence of either the seat belt or the airbag may result in death due to oblique frontal impacts; if the design only includes an airbag, collisions between the anthropomorphic dummy model and the interior car parts will not be prevented; a design providing both an airbag and a seat belt meets the basic requirements of UN passive safety Regulation no. 94