Design of improved energy absorbing pads to reduce occupant injuries in vehicle side impact

Abstract

In this paper, design and analysis of improved energy absorbing pads, which are widely used for reducing occupants' injury in case of side impact, are presented to minimise the side impact effects on occupants. This research is part of an ongoing vehicle design and development project to reduce the vehicle development time and cost by using energy absorbing pads to improve the passive safety for side collisions and to reduce the injuries without further increasing weight of the vehicle. The use of energy absorbing pads, especially in side impact, has been increasing significantly for the last decades. The energy absorption capacity and lightweight material specifications of expanded polypropylene (EPP) and polypropylene (PP) are major characteristics that make the use of these pads in automotive industry. The present approach is employed to design improved energy absorbing pads using different materials and introducing material model selection, modelling, simulation and validity studies.