Safety Counter Measures: A Comprehensive Crashworthiness Study of Out-Of-Position (OOP) Airbag Deployment and Passenger Impact

Author

Suryatej Reddy Potula

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Horstemeyer, Mark F.

Committee Member

Solanki, Kiran N.

Committee Member

Tschopp, Mark A.

Date of Degree

5-12-2012

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Mechanical Engineering

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

James Worth Bagley College of Engineering

Department

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

The objective of this research is to simulate crashworthiness for Out-of-Position (OOP) occupants incorporating a 50th percentile Hybrid III dummy and a side curtain airbag in a 1996 Dodge Neon under side impact scenarios. Two different methods of airbag techniques namely, the uniform pressure (UP) and the smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) were compared. This study revealed that there is minimal difference between UP and SPH methods when the dummy’s head impacts the airbag after it has fully inflated. However, when the dummy’s head impacts the airbag during the inflation process, the modeling of the airbag gas dynamics becomes critical in predicting the dummy response. The SPH method, which models the gas dynamics in the airbag, causes the airbag to unroll more uniformly. Depending on the timing of the dummy’s head impact with the airbag these differences in inflation can produce significant differences in dummy head accelerations.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/19329

Comments

finite element analysis||out-of-position||Crashworthiness||Occupant safety

Recommended Citation

Potula, Suryatej Reddy, "Safety Counter Measures: A Comprehensive Crashworthiness Study of Out-Of-Position (OOP) Airbag Deployment and Passenger Impact" (2012). Theses and Dissertations. 3848.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/3848