CAE Model Characterization of an Iveco Daily Airbag

In the last years, safety regulations have become more stringent also in the area of the commercial vehicles, from vans to trucks. All security systems require an ever greater attention in their design, both the ones for active and passive safety. Among these, a crucial role is always played by the airbags. The object of this thesis, done at CNH Industrial, is the characterization of an Iveco Daily airbag finite element model comparing the results of the experimental tests conducted on the real airbag and that of the computer simulations. Being an airbag a cushion of various fabric material components, that inflate after an accident, it has gas losses through the seams and due to the porosity of the material. To define properly which are the effects on the airbag behaviour due to the first and the ones due to the latter, it has been modelled following some steps and introducing one by one these phenomena. The characterization is done, in a first step, comparing the finite element model results of a linear impactor test with the ones of a Madymo model, provided by CNH Industrial, and then with the experimental results of the tests done at STELLANTIS Safety Center. The results obtained show a behaviour of the finite element model that is almost the same of the Madymo one and very well correlated also with the tests on the real airbag. After this, the characterized model has been used to simulate a real situation with a mannequin impacting on the airbag, like what can happen to the driver in case of accident. This simulation also gives good results, compared to the one of the experimental tests. Lastly, a new tool from HyperWorks 2021 has been used to fold the airbag into its housing.