This paper describes an analytical method to predict the sensor closure time for an airbag (Supplemental lnflatable Restraint - SIR) system in frontal impacts. The analytical tools used are the explicit finite element (FE) code, an in-house sensor closure time prediction program, and a full vehicle FE model. Nodal point information obtained from the full vehicle FE simulation is used to predict the sensor closure time of the airbag system. This analytical method can provide the important crash signature information for a SIR system development of a new vehicle program. In this paper, 0-degree frontal impacts at four different impact speeds with two different bumper energy absorption systems are studied using the non-linear DYNA3D FE computer program. It is concluded that the analytical method is very useful to predict the SIR sensor closure time. (A)
Samenvatting