Driver out-of-position injuries mitigation and advanced restraint features development

Airbag-related out-of-position (OOP) injuries in automotive crash accident have drawn great attention by public in recent years. In the interim-final rule of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards that NHTSA issued in May 2000, OOP static test becomes a mandatory requirement of new regulation and will be phased in starting from year 2003. Due to the complexities and constraints of vehicle design, such as extreme vehicle styling and packaging as well as multiple safety requirements, it is a great challenge for both restraint safety suppliers and automobile manufacturers work together to come up with proper designs to meet requirements of new regulation and provide additional protection for both in-position and OOP occupants at various vehicle crash scenarios.

In this paper, the technique of developing advanced restraint system and mitigating the OOP injuries is described. With the aid of computer simulation using coupled structural/computational fluid dynamics scheme in conjunction with laboratory test, various OOP countermeasures are illustrated. The design guidelines are outlined. The reduction of OOP injury is demonstrated with proposed design concepts. A useful and unique tool for advanced restraint system and OOP protection is developed that yields promising results.