Passive safety of vehicles: FE simulation of different side impact crashes and study of injuries with Human Body Models.

The objective of this thesis is to reproduce in a FE environment, six different side impact crash tests, between a Moving Deformable Barrier (AE-MDB) and a mid-size sedan. The further goal is to investigate and compare the possible injuries that the car occupant at driver seat may suffer in those type of impacts, using a Human Body Model (HBM). The injuries were evaluated by using HBM based injury criteria and not using the traditional ones. The vehicle simulated is the 2012 Toyota Camry and the HBM is the THUMS Occupant, Version 4.1. Euro NCAP regulates only one of the six configurations of impact, and so in this work there is a reference to that standard. The other impacts are not regulated by Euro NCAP or by any other world's safety protocols. The AE-MDB, the HBM and the vehicle model, are included in a main file that permit the simulation of the side impact crashes, by using LS-Prepost as pre-processor and post-processor software, and LS-dyna as solver software. The trolley must be translated and rotated to simulate all the different configurations. Two side impact crashes simulated that the trolley is driven into the vehicle at right angle, in correspondence of the R-point of the car occupant at driver or passenger seat. The other four impact crashes simulated the trolley colliding the vehicle in the side front part left and right and, in the side rear part left and right, tilted of 45 degrees. The six different crash configurations were analyzed and compared. The side impact crash at right angle, in correspondence of the R-point of the car occupant at driver seat, results to be more critical for the car occupant, especially for the head of the body. The crash configuration at right angle at right side of the vehicle, as well as the two front tilted side impact, at right and left, results in a transnational movement of the dummy, but results are however out of danger of injury. In the end, the two rear tilted configuration of side impact, results in small movement of the dummy and, as consequence, extremely low danger of injury. In conclusion, the advantage of using a HBM model, which is much more detailed and realistic than a rigid dummy, allows for more accurate results on injury analysis and permit the evaluation of injuries resulting from different configuration of impact, in a cheaper and easier way, than the injuries evaluation through rigid dummies.