This paper reports the results of multi-body numerical simulation of a vehicle crash with a teenager pedestrian. A previous technique utilized for adult pedestrian impact is applied. The work starts with the determination of the masses for the various segments of the body of a teenager with a total mass of 45 kg and then switches to the construction of the dummy and the middle-class vehicle in the Visual Nastran environment. Simulations are performed for both frontal impacts and lateral impacts, when the vehicle is travelling at a constant speed and when the vehicle is braking, following the Euro NCAP rules on the subject. The results are analysed by calculating the values of the head injury criterion for the head and the values of the thoracic trauma index and 3 ms criterion for the chest; the injuries are assessed according to the current interpretation. Abbreviated injury scale curves are used to determine the dangerousness of the impact. Finally, the results are close to those obtained by applying the same technique to an adult pedestrian and other available data in the literature for an adult or a child.
This work studies the teenage pedestrian-sport utility vehicle (SUV) crash; injury to the vital parts of the body, such as the head and chest, and to the femur is evaluated. More advanced injury criteria are applied, as provided in the rules. The multibody technique is applied by making use of SimWise software and of the teenager anthropomorphic model, the use of which is now consolidated. Head injury criterion (HIC) is used for the head, thoracic trauma index (TTI) criterion for the thorax in the case of side impact and 3 ms criterion in the case of frontal impact, while the force criterion is used for the femur. Both the TTI and femur load evaluation require non-substantial modifications of the dummy, by insertion of sensors for the measurement of the acceleration of the 4th rib and the 12th vertebra and two very thin plates at the knees for the correct individuation of the contact point with the vehicle bumper. Particular attention is paid to the front shape of the vehicle, concluding that the SUV examined in this paper is less dangerous than the sedan studied in a previous work, since its frontal dimensions (bonnet angle, bumper height and bonnet height) are more advantageous. However the teenage pedestrian in a lateral position is less prone to injuries in the head and chest, with respect to the frontal position; the pedestrian's position has little influence on femur damage. Furthermore, the braking of the vehicle reduces the possibility of crash fatality. In conclusion, a theoretical approach is shown, to highlight the influence of the vehicle mass on the pedestrian speed after the impact.
The difference between the stress value calculated by a two-dimensional finite element model of spur gears and those obtained by the rules in ISO 6336 was evaluated. Hertz theory, which provides information on the extension of the contact area and the maximum value of the contact pressure, was used to choose the dimensions of the elements. The mesh was created using the stress analytical solution relative to a model consisting of two cylinders in contact. Analogous optimization was executed for the mesh of the teeth feet; a mesh of 15 elements was considered optimum, because it minimized the difference to 0.5 per cent in the bending stress calculation. Stress values, obtained using the finite element method (FEM), are generally lower than those obtained with the ISO rules. Hence, this approach yields a conservative determination of the effective material strength. In all the examined cases, the difference was less than 2.5 per cent. The set FEM technique gives a result accuracy of better than 1 per cent; the difference between the stress obtained by FEM and those obtained by ISO 6336 is less than 2.5 per cent, so that the FEM confirmed, consistent with the ISO rules, that correction of the profile results in significant benefits with respect to determination of the mechanical resistance of spur gears.
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