Is the Virtual Homologation for Pedestrian Protection Viable?

Abstract

One out of five deceased in traffic accidents is a pedestrian. In addition, pedestrians represent the 20 % of the hospitalized injured people. The deadliness rate of a pedestrian crash is significantly greater than for the rest of accidents. Thus, pedestrian crash is one of the more lethal traffic accidents and, consequently, pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users. Vehicle’s design can influence immensely in the risk of seriousness of the accident. Regulations are the legal instruments in order to establish if a vehicle achieves the minimum safety requirements. Nevertheless, homologation implies costly and destructive tests. This problem could be solved by simulation techniques. Analyzing the viability of a virtual homologation is the main goal of this article. After studying pedestrian crash biomechanics, virtual tests will be performed using Finite Element software (Ls-Dyna) to assess the influence of the design of vehicle and the effect of a safety system (active bonnet). Comparison between virtual tests results and real tests allows deducing if the virtual homologation for pedestrian protection is viable.