Even though the rollover is not the most frequent type of
accident, it is of the greatest significance with respect to injury
and trauma caused to the vehicle occupants. The need to reduce
death incidence and serious injuries has increased the importance
of computational simulations and prototype testing.
This study presents finite element model to simulate rollover
events and to predict possible injuries caused in the head, neck,
thorax and cervical spine. Numerical models of a sport utility
vehicle (SUV) are simulated including anthropomorphic dummy to
represent the driver. The injury risks and traumas are verified to
the driver considering belted and unbelted dummies.
The computational methodology developed proved to be efficient
for the evaluation of the vehicle's roof structure in rollover
events. Regarding the computational results, some standards and
procedures which are broadly used by the automotive industry to
evaluate the vehicle's roof resistance, cannot prevent the
occurrence of injuries and traumas to the occupants. Moreover,
according to the results of numerical simulations, it is suggested
that the load required evaluating the car's roof resistance
should be increased. It is shown that numerical methods can be used
to assess the structure of the vehicle and verifying the
driver's injury risk, reducing the amount of experimental tests
to be performed.