Objective
Injury risk from side airbag deployment has been assessed using stationary out-of-position occupant test protocols. However, stationary conditions may not always represent real world environments. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of torso side airbag deployment on close-proximity occupants, comparing a stationary test protocol with dynamic sled conditions.
Methods
Chest compression and viscous metrics were quantified from sled tests utilizing post-mortem human specimens and computational simulations with three boundary conditions: rigid wall, ideal airbag interaction, and close-proximity airbag deployment. PMHS metrics were quantified from chestband contour reconstructions. The parametric effect of ΔV on close-proximity occupant was examined with the computational model.
Results
PMHS injuries suggested close-proximity occupants may sustain visceral trauma, which was not observed in occupants subjected to rigid wall or ideal airbag boundary conditions. Peak injury metrics were also elevated with close-proximity occupant relative to other boundary conditions. The computational model indicated decreasing influence of airbag on compression metrics with increasing ΔV. Airbag influence on viscous metric was greatest with close-proximity occupant at ΔV = 7.0 m/s, at which the response magnitude was greater than linear summation of metrics resulting from rigid impact and stationary close-proximity interaction.
Conclusions
These results suggest that stationary close-proximity occupants may not represent the only scenario of side airbag deployment harmful to the thoracoabdominal region. The sensitivity of the viscous metric and implications for visceral trauma are also discussed.