Mechanisms of Passenger Kinetic Energy Absorption During Collision and Role of SECURUS™ Fiber

A new revolutionary fiber (SECURUS™) that is offered by Honeywell to the automotive industry suitable for use in safety belts is able to absorb a passenger's kinetic energy without the passenger being subjected to excessive forces. This paper analyses thoroughly the mechanisms of the energy dissipation during an automotive accident. Such analysis shows the role of the belt and its characteristics in the process of energy dissipation.

We have shown that there are two interacting mechanisms: one by the vehicle (energy absorbing elements) and another by the belt itself. We built simple and useful mathematical models of the process and showed quantitatively (using the belts of real characteristics and dimensions) how the remarkable characteristics of SECURUS™ fiber allow the force reduction.

In this paper the models are simple enough to keep the major effects transparent to the observer. First, we proposed a general iterative algorithm that describes mathematically the body-belt interaction during an accident. Then we obtained a quantitative solution for a simple system of a block on a sled with a damper, the block restricted by a belt, with all parameters of the model similar to a typical automotive sled test. And finally, we considered a model of an “infinite” impulse with a two-dimensional model of seat-belt arrangement where the clear advantage of using SECURUS™ fiber has been demonstrated quantitatively.