Evaluation of frontal occupant protection system responses to crash pulse variations

Occupant Protection System (OPS) is a key component in today's vehicle systems to reduce occupant's injuries during collisions. To assess OPS performance under a wide variety of crash conditions, vehicle barrier tests, laboratory dynamic sled tests and computer simulations are the major tools for the systems development. As the main input to the system, vehicle crash pulse controls the OPS design. Its variations have significant impact on the overall system responses. A well-correlated MADYMO model is employed to evaluate the effects on a frontal OPS. A set of crash pulses are quantitatively analyzed to assess the sled repeatability. Statistical analyses are then performed to define the corresponding dummy dynamic response corridors. The results show that small crash pulse discrepancy could result in significant variations of dummy dynamic responses and injury measurements. This study has the potential to help design a robust occupant restraint system less sensitive to crash pulse variations.