Current numerical simulation practice does not capture the seat mounted Side Airbag (SAB) breaking out through the seat tear seam and its correct early deployment characteristics. A late SAB breakout negatively impacts full SAB deployment and occupant coverage. An early breakout enhances timely SAB positioning and coverage, providing early cushioning to the occupant from the intruding barrier. This paper presents a numerical modeling process capable of predicting and enhancing seat tear seam breakout time and early SAB deployment kinematics.
The critical phases used in the development of SAB breakout modeling process are as follows: Phase 1: Physical Tear Seam and Seat Trim coupon tests to characterize physical material properties for the numerical material model development; Phase 2: Numerical Modeling of the Tear Seam and Seat Trim breakout and, Phase 3: Numerical prediction of SAB breakout through a candidate seat tear seam.
In the last phase of the study, the validated material models of the trim and tear seam were evaluated for the realistic deployment of the side airbag, modeled using Corpuscular Particle Method (CPM), through the seat tear seam.
Results from the study illustrate a systematic process for material model development of seat tear seam breakout. Accurate representation of the breakout of the tear seam coupled with advanced airbag modeling techniques allows simulation of realistic deployment of the SAB through the seat. This results in numerical prediction of the path of SAB deployment, its coverage and breakout force, thus avoiding potential injury to the occupant due to either an early interaction with a deploying airbag or delayed coverage due to late deployment.