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| The purpose of crashworthiness design is to protect the occupants |
Applications - Occupant Protection
Providing crash protection for the occupants is an integral part of vehicle development. Increasingly sophisticated legislative crash tests, with occupant injury measurements as the pass/fail criterion, demand that detailed modelling be undertaken at an early stage in the design to avoid costly late changes. Arup offers a comprehensive range of modelling skills to predict and optimise occupant protection performance.
The FT-Arup detailed finite element models of the frontal impact crash dummies have been validated against more than 600 laboratory tests. These models offer an unprecedented level of detail and accuracy. The range includes average male (50th%ile) small female (5th%ile), large male (95th%ile) and child dummies.
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| The FT-Arup family of dummy models |
The small female and child dummy models can be used to evaluate the aggressivity of airbags; small occupants positioned close to the deploying airbag ("out - of - position") can be severely injured.
The new European offset frontal crash test (ECE R94) includes a lower leg injury criterion, which is proving difficult to pass in practice for many vehicles. The sophisticated dummy models are able to predict these injuries and can be used to guide design development, e.g. to assess the effect of reducing toeboard intrusion or adding padding on the floor.
The FT-Arup Free Motion Headform model is available for evaluating vehicle interiors against FMVSS 201 (interior head impact), and to optimise trim to pass the test.
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| One of over 600 tests carried out on the FT-Arup Hybrid 3 models |
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Lower leg injury study
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| Side impact - optimisation of vehicle structure to reduce injuries |
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Interior impact with Free Motion Headform
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