Citation

Huang J, He W, Yang J, Zhong Z. Int. J. Crashworthiness 2009; 14(5): 437-447.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13588260902823346

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Airbags have been widely used in passenger vehicles to protect occupants from vehicle collisions. Although the airbag is an advanced protective device, it has been continuously improved to minimise occupant injuries for true safety. The current study developed a new sandwiched tube-type airbag (STAB) consisting of two flat layers and a middle layer with a tube-type structure. The objective of designing this new type of airbag is to enhance occupant safety in passenger car collisions by reducing injury risks for small and out-of-position (OOP) occupants. A prototype of the new airbag was built using a volume of 40 L. The performance of the prototype airbag was investigated using static deployment test and sled crash test with a Hybrid III dummy. A finite element model of the new airbag was developed and validated using results from the airbag deployment test and sled crash test. A parametric study and STAB optimisation were subsequently conducted to study the influence of eight design variables on STAB. The design of experiment (DOE) was used to generate the virtual test matrixes; results were analysed to determine significant design variables and STAB's protective efficiency. A series of virtual tests involving the OOP occupant and STAB airbag as well as the normal driver-side airbag (DAB) were conducted with a 5th percentile female dummy and a 50th percentile male dummy. Results indicated that the STAB airbag needs less gas than the DAB to get the same load and displacement curve. In the deployment process, STAB's leading velocity was lower than that of DAB's. Thus, STAB could decrease the risk of OOP occupant's injury and provide better protection performance.