Basic Research for Motorcycle Crashworthiness and a New Airbag System

The computer simulation on motorcycle crashworthiness has been introduced to develop and evaluate a new airbag system for motorcycle. We chose MADYMO (multi-body dynamics) and PAM-SAFE (finite element method) for the basic simulation software. In addition to using these computer simulation tools, several full-scale tests were performed. This new airbag system has some features that are newly developed for motorcycle. This system has been shown to be promising by some simulations and tests. However there are still many technical issues to be investigated and solved in order to put the system to practical use. One of the most important issues is to investigate the effectiveness of the system in various collision configurations. (ISO13232, which stipulates research evaluation methods for motorcycle rider protective devices, requires 200 configurations of collision simulation for evaluating risk/benefit factors.)