Abstract
The University of MichiganTransportation Research Institute (UMTRI) Airbag Skin Burn Model (ASBM) has been improved through laboratory testing and the implementation of a more flexible heat transfer model. A new impinging jet module based on laboratory measurements of heat flux due to high-velocity gas jets has been added, along with an implicit finite-difference skin conduction module. The new model can be used with airbag gas dynamics simulation outputs, or with heat flux data measured in the laboratory, to predict the potential for thermal skin burn caused by exposure to airbag exhaust gas. (A)