The development of combined finite element and spring / rigid mass crash simulation dummy models for automotive applications is described. In order to better understand the crash phenomena and occupant kinematics during vehicle crashes, recent developments have been focused on the use of finite element techniques in the simulation of both structure and structure / dummy interactions.
The combination of spring /rigid mass modeling and finite element technique is used to develop models of fiftieth percentile Hybrid III and Side impact Dummies in a finite element program (RADIOSS). In general, the dummies are modeled with rigid masses and joints with techniques similar to those used in Crash Victim Simulation programs like MADYMO and CAL3D. Only selected components, like the Hybrid III dummy thorax and the SID pelvis and jacket, are modeled with finite element shell and brick elements to improve dummy / restraint system and dummy / structure interaction responses. Special attention is given to dummy model size, so that when integrated with the vehicle structure finite element model, the integrated system model will run with minimal increase in CPU run time. Several examples of Hybrid III dummy with air bag and belt restraint systems, and SID dummy against rigid wall sled tests are presented to illustrate this approach. The correlation of analytical predictions with the test data is presented.