Abstract
The development of a detailed and state-of-the-art side airbag modeling and its application in occupant safety in lateral collisions are presented in this paper. A very detailed model of a folded side airbag has been developed, and the simulation of the unfolding of the airbag was compared with special airbag testing results. The kinematics and time histories of the model are compared with test data and are discussed in the paper. The airbag model was used as a design tool to evaluate the performance of the occupant in side impacts. Advanced finite element (FE) dummy models were used in the airbag system level evaluation. The results of the modeling as compared with dynamic sled test data are presented. (A)