New Technologies for Side Impact Model Set up

During the development and design process of a vehicle, Occupant protection in side impact studies has become a standard analysis. One of the most important issues that analysts face in side impact is how the passenger’s seat and the dummy will be adjusted in the proper position for the laboratory tests. This makes the application of numerical simulations inevitable. Simultaneously, as new legal tests and regulations are continuously introduced, the amount of relative loadcases has increased dramatically. In order to set up standardized processes that will minimize the complexity and lead time of the numerous side impact CAE simulations, automated and efficient tools are continuously developed by CAE software providers. The positioning of the seat and the dummy is also a demanding process in CAE simulations. From the import of the model in the pre-processor till the output of the file for the solver, a lot of complicated steps in a strict hierarchy have to be followed. BETA CAE Systems has implemented some special tools in ANSA pre-processor to, import a dummy, position it on the seat, de-penetrate it from the seat, restrain it using seatbelts and then produce automatically all the corresponding adjustments for the dummy – seat system as far as all relevant regulations and legal tests are concerned. These efficient tools mentioned above offer to the analyst the ability to set up an automated and robust procedure for the dummy – seat demanding CAE system that fulfills all the needed steps for a side impact analysis, with the minimum human interaction and time consumption.