Effect of Crush Zone Components Materials on Injury of Child Passenger in Vehicle Frontal Crashes
Abstract
There is concern about child injury severity in vehicle crashes. Automotive engineers devise ways to reduce the injury levels of child occupants. Energy absorption crush zone components are known to reduce injuries in frontal crashes. This study presents the effects of energy absorption of the bumper and side member to Head Injury Criteria (HIC), Chest Severity Index (CSI) and Neck Moment (NM) of a three-year-old child in finite element (FE) simulations. A crash simulation was conducted at 48km/h by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) using a restrained Three-Year-Old (3YO) child FE model seated in the rear seat of a Ford Taurus FE model in LS DYNA software with composite bumper and with traditional steel bumper of the car and injury values were recorded. Another crash test was run using a steel side member and with aluminium side member. Composite bumper greatly reduces HIC36, CSI and NM by 24.4 %, 12% and 19% respectively when compared to steel bumper. Aluminium side member showed little effect on HIC36 but it minimizes CSI and NM by 14% and 8.2% lower than values obtained using steel side member. This is in addition to weight reduction imparted by the composite bumper and aluminium side member compared to steel. Crashworthy energy absorption bumper and side members could help in minimizing child fatalities while reducing fuel consumption.
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