Analysis of chest response characters for drivers in lateral and oblique automotive impact

Abstract

Chest injury frequently occurs in oblique and side impacts. Apart from the loading of airbags and seatbelts, secondary impacts with door panels and armrests also cause severe chest injuries. This study aims to investigate the characteristics of the chest injury of occupants in the oblique and lateral impact. It focuses on the secondary impact between occupants and vehicle side structure. A model comprising GHBMC and components of Toyota Camry is established with acceleration curves. Combined with typical impact directions in NCAP tests, four sets of simulations are carried out. Results indicate that the maximum deflection occurs in oblique far-side impact, reaching 53 mm. Additionally, the maximum stress occurs in lateral near-side impact, reaching 259 MPa. In contrast, the stresses of far-side lateral and oblique impacts are only 2% and 3% smaller than the maximum one. Therefore, the occupant injury is serious in the far-side impact. Due to the lower lateral acceleration and the better seatbelt protection, the minimum deflection and stress are found in the near-side oblique impact. In conclusion, when the seatbelt can restrain the movement of the occupant during oblique and lateral impact, the injury level will be reduced. In addition, in the oblique and lateral impact simulations, the lowest rib stress exceeds the tolerance, while the highest chest deflection is still lower than the tolerance. This study provides a reference for the subsequent improvement of the restraint system.

Keywords:

• Chest injury
• oblique impact
• side impact
• chest deflection
• stress distribution

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by funds from National Natural Science Foundation of China (61871173), Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (E2020202017) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (52175085).