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Design and optimization for the occupant restraint system of vehicle based on a single freedom model

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Abstract

Throughout the vehicle crash event, the interactions between vehicle, occupant, restraint system (VOR) are complicated and highly non-linear. CAE and physical tests are the most widely used in vehicle passive safety development, but they can only be done with the detailed 3D model or physical samples. Often some design errors and imperfections are difficult to correct at that time, and a large amount of time will be needed. A restraint system concept design approach which based on single-degree-of-freedom occupant-vehicle model (SDOF) is proposed in this paper. The interactions between the restraint system parameters and the occupant responses in a crash are studied from the view of mechanics and energy. The discrete input and the iterative algorithm method are applied to the SDOF model to get the occupant responses quickly for arbitrary excitations (impact pulse) by MATLAB. By studying the relationships between the ridedown efficiency, the restraint stiffness, and the occupant response, the design principle of the restraint stiffness aiming to reduce occupant injury level during conceptual design is represented. Higher ridedown efficiency means more occupant energy absorbed by the vehicle, but the research result shows that higher ridedown efficiency does not mean lower occupant injury level. A proper restraint system design principle depends on two aspects. On one hand, the restraint system should lead to as high ridedown efficiency as possible, and at the same time, the restraint system should maximize use of the survival space to reduce the occupant deceleration level. As an example, an optimization of a passenger vehicle restraint system is designed by the concept design method above, and the final results are validated by MADYMO, which is the most widely used software in restraint system design, and the sled test. Consequently, a guideline and method for the occupant restraint system concept design is established in this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Automobile Simulation and Control, Jilin University, Changchun, 130025, China

    Junyuan Zhang, Yue Ma, Chao Chen & Yan Zhang

Authors
  1. Junyuan Zhang
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  2. Yue Ma
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  3. Chao Chen
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  4. Yan Zhang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yue Ma.

Additional information

This project is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51075180), and Open Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Vehicle NVH and Safety Technology of China (Grant No. NVHSKL-201013)

ZHANG Junyuan, PhD, born in 1965, is a full-time professor at Jilin University, China. She received her BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in Automobile Engineering from Jilin University, China, in 1985, 1990, and 2003, respectively. She worked as an engineer at R&D Centre FAW, China, from 1985 to 1995, and visited to Ford Motor Co., U.S., in 1998. Her research interests include Auto-Body design and vehicle passive safety.

MA Yue, born in 1988, received her BSc in Automotive Engineering from Jilin University, China. At present, she is an MSc candidate at Jilin University, China. Her research focused on vehicle passive safety, and restraint system design and optimization methods particularly.

CHEN Chao, born in 1985, received his BSc and MSc degrees in Automotive Engineering from Jilin University, China, in 2008 and 2011, respectively. His research focused on vehicle passive safety.

ZHANG Yan, born in 1985, received her BSc and MSc degrees in Automotive Engineering from Jilin University, China, in 2007 and 2009, respectively. She is engaged in vehicle passive safety.

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Zhang, J., Ma, Y., Chen, C. et al. Design and optimization for the occupant restraint system of vehicle based on a single freedom model. Chin. J. Mech. Eng. 26, 492–497 (2013). https://doi.org/10.3901/CJME.2013.03.492

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3901/CJME.2013.03.492

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