The Application of Optimization Techniques to Design a Foam Pad to Reduce Lower-Extremity Injuries

The present study had two aims: (1) to develop a model which reproduced the dummy lower leg kinematics observed in a high-speed test, and (2) to develop a methodology to assess various theoretical design parameters of a heel foam pad to reduce the risk of the lower extremity injuries.

To address the first aim, a MADYMO sled simulation model was developed. The interior parts were represented mainly with finite element (FE) models, with intent to capture deformations and the reaction force directions. Moreover, the occupant responses were estimated from the refined version of the dummy model (i.e., the Hybrid III model; Q dummy model). The model was acceptably correlated to experiments. To address the second aim, the model was simplified for subsequent optimization of the heel foam pad. A genetic algorithm (GA) was used to optimize design parameters of the heel foam pad to reduce the tibia axial loads in the high-speed test (i.e., 64 km/h offset deformable barrier without dashboard intrusion and vehicle pitching).