Citation

Matsuoka F, Masuda M, Katsumata S. Proc. Int. Tech. Conf. Enhanced Safety Vehicles 2005; 2005: 15p.

Copyright

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

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Side impacts present a severe collision mode from the perspective of occupant protection because there are relatively few vehicle structural components (such as a center pillar and door) and relatively little vehicle crush space exists. In recent years, technology has advanced including enhanced body structural integrity, torso air bags and curtain air bags. Further advances in these technologies are anticipated in the future. A dummy with excellent biofidelity is indispensable for such advanced technical development, and it is reported that the recently developed SID-IIs, exhibits better biofidelity compared with previous side impact dummies ES-1 and DOTSID. However, when considering the compression characteristic of the upper arm of SID-IIs, it was found that the stiffness is excessively high compared with post mortem human surrogate (PMHS) data. It is thought that this characteristic can have considerable influence on thoracic rib deflection in side impacts because the upper arm transmits force from the door and/or the side airbag to the thorax. In this study, a new upper arm component for SID-IIs has been developed to provide a better interaction with the thorax rib. According to the ISO guideline of side impact biofidelity evaluation, a series of tests with the new arm were conducted on the dummy. It was shown that the biofidelity of the dummy with the modified arm, especially its thoracic responses, was improved by replacing the original arm with the newly developed one.