Citation

Kikuchi Y, Takahashi Y, Mori F. Proc. Int. Tech. Conf. Enhanced Safety Vehicles 2005; 2005: 13p.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, In public domain, Publisher National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A finite Element (FE) model of the next-generation flexible pedestrian leg-form impactor (Flex-PLI) developed by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) and Japan Automobile Research Institute (JARI) was developed in this study. The Flex-PLI is intended to be used in evaluating safety of car front structures against the lower limbs of pedestrians. A 3D geometry of each part was reproduced in PAM-CRASHTM based on drawings of the Flex-PLI. For material characterization, the stress-strain characteristics were determined from the results of the material tests on each individual component, with the strain rate dependency of the material taken into account. The results of the dynamic 3-point bending test for the thigh and leg and the dynamic 4-point bending test for the knee joint performed by JARI were used to validate the model. The validation results showed that the computer simulation results for the force-deflection response of the thigh and leg as well as the moment-angle response of the knee joint agreed well with the test results. Impact tests against vehicles at 40 km/h were reproduced using the model, and the results were compared with the test results. The results of the comparison showed that the kinematics of the Flex-PLI could be reproduced by the computer simulation. It was also found that the bending moment of the thigh and leg as well as the elongation of the ligament cables of the knee joint could be accurately reproduced.