Many vehicle design and safety assessment applications use physical and virtual representations of vehicle occupants within the vehicle interior. Proper use of these human models requires accurate data concerning vehicle occupant posture and position. This paper presents techniques for characterizing vehicle occupant posture by measuring accessible body landmarks. The landmark locations are use...

Automobile crashes are the largest cause of death for pregnant females and the leading cause of traumatic fetal injury mortality in the United States. A previously validated MADYMO computer model of a 30-week pregnant occupant was used in this study to investigate the pregnant occupant response in a severe frontal motor vehicle crash. This study presents simulations of 26 different severe car c...

This paper presents an estimate of the probability of serious occupant injury in frontal crashes based on vehicle kinematics information. Occupant injury risk is developed by modeling the human as a point mass and computing the occupant impact velocity (OIV) using the flail space model. Event Data Recorder data provide vehicle kinematics information for real world crashes with known injury outc...

In a frontal vehicle crash, for a given crash velocity and given maximum vehicle crush, with a known restraint characteristic, what is the vehicle pulse, subject to lower and upper bound constraints, that produces the lowest peak occupant deceleration? A solution procedure using numerical optimization is proposed. The pulse is discretized in the vehicle crush domain. The optimization search is ...

Occupant packaging practice relies on statistical models codified in SAE practices, such as the SAE J941 eyellipse, and virtual human figure models representing individual occupants. The current packaging approach provides good solutions when the problem is relatively unconstrained, but achieving good results when many constraints are active, such as restricted headroom and sightlines, requires...

The Acceleration Severity Index (ASI) is used to evaluate the potential for occupant risk in full-scale crash tests involving roadside safety hardware. Despite its widespread use across Europe, there is a lack of research relating this metric to occupant injury in real-world collisions. Recent installation of Event Data Recorders (EDRs) in a number of late model vehicles presents a different pe...

A mathematical model of a vehicle dynamic system capable of predicting ride comfort can be a useful tool for vehicle design and development engineers at the concept design stage. The aim of this study was to develop a simple mathematical model of a vehicle with seat and occupant to investigate how vehicle dynamic parameters affect the vibration transmission and ride quality. A 13 degrees-offree...

Ambulance vehicles are a unique passenger environment with complex crashworthiness and occupant protection issues, eg. occupants in various orientations, unique human factors aspects and an array of aftermarket interior modifications. In the USA, ambulance vehicle occupant protection, crashworthiness and safety testing lags 30 years behind current general automotive safety technology. This pape...

Introduction and shoulder belts (type 2 seat belts) help to reduce the risk of injury due to im­ vehicle interior and occupant. Seat belts also help distribute restraining forces Seat belts are the primary occupant pacts with vehicle interior components or over sturdy skeletal areas of the body. restraint system in passenger vehicles. ejection. Seat belts provide occupant However, the effective...

Objectives: One of the applications of ergonomics disciplinary is designing driver workstation compatible to users’ characteristics. The aim of this study was evaluation of interior design of Shoka vehicle with respect to the accommodation for Iranian population and proposing suggestions for customizing design of the vehicle. Methods: This study was a descriptive-analytical study conducted a...