Human Body Model and Passive Safety in Vehicles: Side Impact Crash with Offset Studied with FE Simulation

The objective of this thesis is to reproduce in a FE environment a side impact crash test with offset between a Moving Deformable Barrier (AE-MDB) and a mid-size sedan. A further goal is to investigate the possible injuries that a driver may suffer in this type of impact using a Human Body Model (HBM). This typology of crash test is not regulated by Euro NCAP, but reference is made to their protocol for recreating the impact. The FE environment simulates a 2012 Toyota Camry in which a (HBM) driver is inserted. The HBM chosen for this thesis work is the THUMS model. In order to include the HBM in the car model it is necessary to make some steps to recreate the real situation in the FE environment. The driver’s seat has to be statically deformed due to the weight of the occupant and then a standard driving position has to be recreated by changing the initial position of the HBM through a simulation, to this aim the PIPER tool was used. After this process seat belts are created to secure the driver to seat. Once the simulation has been completed, the results are analysedto measure possible injuries and to investigate the body parts most at risk in this type of crash. The advantage of using a HBM model, that is much more detailed and realistic than a rigid dummy, allows for more accurate results on injury analysis.