Controlling deceleration during a crash

It may be possible to reduce occupant injury severity without increasing vehicle deformation by actively controlling the vehicle deceleration in a crash.

The influence of the change in vehicle deceleration with time (deceleration curve) on occupant injuries in crashes has been studied in the past by modifying the deceleration curve of an actual vehicle and optimizing it to reduce occupant injury criteria by applying the sensitivity analysis method to dummy simulations. However, no mathematical studies were made of the relationship between the curve and the occupant deceleration to provide an adequate explanation of the results.

In a recent study, transient functions were derived from the equations of motion of a one-dimensional, two-mass model and used to obtain a mathematical solution for the vehicle deceleration curve that minimized the peak occupant deceleration with limited vehicle deformation. The derived solution was verified and its applicability and effect were demonstrated through a three-dimensional dummy simulation (Figure 1).