„Integrated“, „Smart“ and „Individual“ are new characteristics of future safety systems. Furthermore, side crashes are still dominant in terms of high injury risk for car occupants and are predicted to become even more relevant in future. Earlier studies on pre-conditioning the occupant during pre-crash phase have shown the potential to reduce injury risk in such accident scenarios. To evaluate and optimize such advanced safety systems to provide a high safety level for the occupant, finite element human body models were used. Especially integrated safety systems which interact with the occupant in the pre-crash phase require these new and supplementary evaluation tools.

With specific focus on the use case, the thorax and rib material of the FE human body model THUMS-D were modified and validated. Two different rib material properties have been defined for two different age groups, one for the young population and one for the elder population based on quasi static and dynamic 3-point bending test set-up. Furthermore, a damage model for the rib fracture was created and implemented to the THUMS-D model. The validation process of the complete thorax followed pendulum impact standards set by GESAC 2005 and ISO/TR 9790:​1999.

Finally the PRE-SAFE^® Impulse Side system was evaluated and optimized applying this upgraded THUMS-D model in FE car crash environment.