Digital Simulation of an Inflatable Safety Restraint

The simulation described in this paper is intended to provide a flexible and economical tool for designing and evaluating inflatable safety restraints. It should be useful both for parameter studies and as a supplement to experiment. This two-dimensional digital simulation is now being completed as part of the CAL/AMA Two-Dimensional Crash Victim Simulation. This paper discusses the assumptions made to formulate the model, sketches the simulation organization, and outlines the three major submodels-thermodynamics, bag shape, and restraint forces.