Aprosys magazine

Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 1 Integrated Project on Advanced Protection Systems MAGAZINE Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 2 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 3 APROSYS MAGAZINE Foreword Dear reader We have the pleasure to present to you this first APROSYS magazine. You will find in this magazine, the intermediate achieved results of the Integratd Project: APROSYS and a brief overview of the main expected outcomes of one of the largest FP6 projects on passive vehicle safety. In spite of the significant improvements in vehicle safety achieved in the past 25 years, the current number of deaths and injuries on European roads plus all the associated social and economical costs must be regarded as unacceptable. The field of passive safety concerns in particular human biomechanics (injury mechanisms and criteria), vehicle and infrastructure crashworthiness and occupant and road user protection systems. Passive safety has proven to be a very effective strategy to reduce the number of casualties among road users, and still, world-wide vehicle safety experts agree that significant further reductions in fatalities and injuries can (and should) be achieved by using passive safety strategies. APROSYS aims to offer a significant contribution to the reduction of road victims in Europe. In other words, the general objective of this IP is the development and introduction of critical technologies that improve passive safety for all European road users in all relevant accident types and accident severities. The APROSYS approach is mostly marked by a deep integration within the 7 technical areas, covering all the vehicle-related aspects, the Biomechanical issues, the Intelligent Safety Systems, the Virtual Testing simulation techniques and the Accidentology investigation, the latter being the foundation of an objective comprehension of the topic, based on reliable accident scenarios. 3 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 4 APROSYS will therefore mobilize and integrate the necessary European scientific and technological expertise for the development of new technologies for the protection of road users in all relevant accident conditions. Furthermore, this IP aims to increase the level of competitiveness of the European industry by developing new safety technologies (safety is a proven selling point) and by developing design tools and evaluation methods that will increase the efficiency of the development process of the involved industries. We hope this magazine increases the interest of a large industrial and political audience for the potential benefit of advanced safety systems. Gijs Kellendonk, IP Manager APROSYS TNO – Automotive Integrated Safety The Netherlands 4 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 5 APROSYS MAGAZINE Contents Introduction 5 Sub-Project 1 - CAR ACCIDENTS Sub-Project 2 - HEAVY VEHICLE ACCIDENTS Sub-Project 3 - PEDESTRIAN AND PEDAL CYCLIST ACCIDENTS Sub-Project 4 - MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS Sub-Project 5 - BIOMECHANICS Sub-Project 6 - INTELLIGENT SAFETY SYSTEMS Sub-Project 7 - VIRTUAL TESTING 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 Colofon 23 5 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 17:23 Pagina 6 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 17:23 Pagina 7 APROSYS MAGAZINE Introduction APROSYS Objectives The IP partners clearly realise, that not all safety issues can be addresses within this IP. Therefore, the focus at this stage will be in particular on issues with the greatest fatalities / injuries reduction potential as well as issues not tackled by previous, current or already planned research activities. Following objectives have been identified: Development of new injury criteria and injury tolerance values for injuries with high societal relevance including head injuries, lower leg injuries and injuries in children and elderly. Over the years, the focus of the project is moving towards the potential safety benefits of developments over the boundaries of passive and active safety, also known as Integrated Safety. Evaluation strategies and methodologies regarding integrated safety systems are well discussed with e.g. COMPOSE, APALACI and PREVAL (part of IP PReVENT). Regarding the 7th Framework Programme of the EC, the APROSYS consortium contributes in sharing as much as possible the results achieved in APROSYS with potential new FP7 projects. Deliverables, publicly available, are provided via the APROSYS website. Moreover, upcoming workshops and the final APROSYS event will contribute to joint European research in an efficient way. Eventually deliverables resulted from APROSYS are expected to contribute significantly to the future reduction of road fatalities and injuries. These expectations, however, need to be supported by adequate cost-benefit analyses prior to definitive statements. APROSYS will be providing the scientific background to these analyses. ISO/CE/EEVC working groups, national governments and consumer test organizations have to decide, based on these APROSYS recommendations but also for political or societal reasons, to push proposed APROSYS recommendations forward in new or improved regulations. 7 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 17:23 Pagina 8 The table below shows a general overview of the general objectives with regard to the APROSYS deliverables available by the IP APROSYS after (March ‘09) and of their main exploitable results. General Objective New injury criteria and injury tolerances New mathematical models of the human body New world-wide harmonized crash dummy Main Exploitable Result (ER) Human head FE model and criteria Whole body human model Advanced 5th-%tile female WSID crash test dummy Near distance radar sensor system for side pre-crash Stereo Video System Active mechanism to reduce intrusion in side crashes Pre-crash sensing system evaluation Generic methodology to assess adaptive safety systems FE glass model Virtual testing software tools and evaluation criteria Prototype cases for Virtual Testing in regulation GCM (Generic Car Models) for harmonized crashsimulation Side impact Test Procedure Advanced European Full Width Test Road furniture assessment Car front test methods HVAI (HGV assessment) Assessm. of HGV side protection systems for PC impacts Concept road barrier Helmet prototype Thorax protector prototype A-pillar design concepts Design concepts for HGV front (VRU protection) Design concepts for HGV side protection systems New knowledge and tools for intelligent safety systems Enhancement of virtual testing technology TNO Automotive (Netherlands) is coordinating the Integrated Project. The project is organized in 9 sub-projects themselves organized in various work packages. Seven technical sub-projects are focusing on one type of accident and present their activities in this magazine. New test methods for injury reduction in most relevant accident types Advanced protection systems for injury reduction in most relevant accident types TNO Automotive (Netherlands) is coordinating the Integrated Project. The project is organized in 9 sub-projects themselves organized in various work packages. Seven technical sub-projects are focusing on one type of accident and present their work in this magazine. 8 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 9 APROSYS MAGAZINE Sub-Project 1 - CAR ACCIDENTS There are about 29,000 car occupant fatalities in the EU15 annually. Over ninety percent of these occur in frontal and side impacts, so this Sub-Project is focusing on improving car crashworthiness for these impact configurations. These improvements will be achieved through the development of new harmonized test and evaluation procedures and development of methodologies to evaluate adaptive safety systems. The main objectives of this Sub-Project are: • For side impact, to complete the development and evaluate the draft test procedure proposed by the International Harmonization of Research Activities (IHRA) side impact working group. • For frontal impact, to develop a high deceleration Full Width test for Europe. • To develop methodologies for evaluating advanced adaptive safety systems. For side impact, the development and evaluation of the draft test procedure proposed by IHRA is nearly complete. A paper describing the results of this work was presented at the Enhanced Vehicle Safety Conference in Lyons, France, in June this year. One of the main achievements of this work was the development of a new Mobile Deformable Barrier with a bumper beam element to represent better current European vehicles. The European Enhanced Vehicle safety Committee (EEVC) working group 13 are continuing this work with the aim of recommending new regulations to improve car safety further. For frontal impact, the specification of an Advanced European Full Width (AE-FW) test has begun. Analysis is ongoing using the UK CCIS and the German GIDAS accident databases to help specify test configuration parameters, such as the test speed and what size dummies should be used in what seating positions. Also, the suitability of the THOR dummy for inclusion in this test is being evaluated using sled testing to assess its robustness and compare its performance to the HYBRIDIII dummy for different loading conditions. Sled test of THOR Dummy. This work has lead to the specification of a draft test protocol in the summer of 2007. This protocol will then be evaluated extensively, using full scale car crash testing, in the next phase of the work starting in the autumn. One of the major issues that still needs to be resolved to complete the definition of the draft protocol is whether or not a Load Cell Wall and deformable barrier face should be incorporated in the test. This would enable the test to be used to assess a vehicle’s partner protection capability as well as its self protection capability. A vehicle’s partner protection is how well it interacts with, and how aggressive it is to, the occupants in other vehicles in a crash, whereas its self 9 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 10 Sub-Project 1 protection is the level of protection it offers its own occupants. The project is seeking advice from bodies involved in compatibility research to help answer this question. The increasing development and market launch of adaptive safety systems offer new potential for advanced safety systems to improve the primary and secondary safety of vehicles. However, many existing test methods to evaluate the crash performance of a vehicle are not suitable for the assessment of adaptive safety systems because an evaluation of sensing performance is required as well as the usual evaluation of the occupant crash protection. This Sub-Project is thus developing a generic methodology to evaluate the performance of advanced safety systems. To date, a draft for the generic evaluation methodology (figure 2) has been developed. Figure: Draft generic methodology to assess adaptive safety systems. Statistics / real world data 1. System description 2. Application category 3. Typical traffic / accident scenarios 4. System objective 5. Definition of specific test conditions and assessment criteria 6a. Pre-crash performance 7. Relevant supporting information Path B Path A 6b. Crash performance 6c. Driver-in-the-loop performance 6. Technical 8. Overall system performance This methodology is currently being applied to assess a pre-crash pedestrian protection system in this Sub-Project and a specific pre-crash side protection system in Sub-Project 6 in order to assess its applicability. Using the experiences gained from this work, the generic evaluation methodology will be updated. 10 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 11 APROSYS MAGAZINE Sub-Project 2 - HEAVY VEHICLE ACCIDENTS The Aprosys Sub-Project 2 deals with advanced protection systems for heavy good vehicles. The focus is on two user groups in heavy vehicle road traffic accidents: • Vulnerable road users in frontal collisions • Passenger cars in side collisions The two central objectives of Work-Package 2.1: 1. to develop an integral assessment method for evaluation of the safety potential of heavy vehicle fronts in accidents with vulnerable road users # 2.to demonstrate improvements achievable by innovative safety concepts based on this assessment method. The main focus in the first phase of this Work-Package has been on the development of principal test procedures, that form the so-called “Heavy Vehicle Aggressivity-Index”. At this stage, the activities concentrate on the selection and analysis of possible safety concepts. After collecting a large number of safety concepts either for prevention of accidents between heavy vehicles and vulnerable road users or for reduction of injury severity resulting from these accidents, 16 concepts of passive safety have been selected for further investigation. Based on a benefit analysis using in-depth databases of partners from several European countries these concepts could be ranked referring to their influence on possible injury reduction for different accident scenarios. While for the benefit analysis a proper function of the concepts is assumed and the effectiveness is evaluated based on the particular injuries and the constitution of the involved vulnerable road user only, the capability of the concepts in reducing characteristic injury values, such as HIC, had to be analysed by means of numerical simulation. For this, three concepts with top results in the benefit analysis are modelled in detail in order to simulate accidents using different vulnerable road user models and solvers. The simulation results of these three concepts described below constitute the future activities of Work-Package 2.1 by providing starting points for the improvement of the concepts as well as the assessment methods of the “Aggressivity-Index”. The final aim of this Work-Package is the demonstration of the “Aggressivity-Index” and safety improvement potential for heavy vehicles based on prototypes derived from the three concepts. Soft front by Multi-Chambered Net of Pneumatic Tubes Earlier investigations within this Work-Package have shown that the reduction of the contact stiffness of the vehicle front has the most significant influence on the improvement of the injury values for the primary impact. This add-on concept softens the front by attaching a system of air tubes deployed in urban areas. The tubes are covered with a net in order to obtain a softening effect also in-between the tubes. Adaptive Front The principal of this concept is to improve the absorption of crash energy, and at the same time the injury values, by providing additional crush-space. For this, front parts are lifted e.g. by air cushions shortly prior an impact or constantly in urban areas. Regarding head injuries this concept shall reduce the velocity at the primary impact. The shape of the lifted parts and the lifting angles are optimised for improved accident kinematics. Double-Convex Front The central aim of this concept is to provide an optimised shape for deflection of the vulnerable road user in terms of run-over prevention, since run-over has been investigated to be the major cause for severe and fatal injuries. In addition, this pure passive device 11 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 12 Sub-Project 2 can be designed for reduced contact forces at the primary impact by establishing clearance between the hard components of the front and the contact surfaces. The concept developed in this Work-Package is designed as an add-on solution for the MAN TGL model generated earlier in Sub-Project 2. However, an improved design can be achieved when considering the functional principal of this concept in the early design phase of the cabin. While Work-Package 2.1 focuses on vulnerable road users, Work-Package 2.2 in SP2 concentrates on passenger cars impacting the side of heavy goods vehicles. Two mayor scenarios were identified after reviewing literature and investigating European accident databases: 1. The first scenario takes place in urban areas, where the passenger car is impacting the side of trucks or trailer perpendicularly with an approaching velocity of up to 50 kph. 2.The second scenario takes place in rural areas (not only on national roads but also on motorways), where the passenger car is approaching the truck or trailer under acute angle with a velocity of up to 120 kph. Other than in the first scenario, vehicle under-ride plays a secondary role: The challenge is to deflect the passenger car and to prevent catching of the tires. The challenges associated with the second scenario are comparable to those of road side barriers and guardrails. Therefore an evaluation criterion based on the ASI and THIV value (as required in the EN 1317) is proposed. Developing appropriate evaluation criteria for improved truck or trailer side structures, workpackage 2 is intensely using numerical simulation tools. Accelerations imposed on a passenger car when inflicting the truck or trailer side were studied with the GCM 2 (the generic car model developed in SP7) and the Chrysler Neon impacting a generic trailer or generic heavy goods vehicle. Moreover, the occupant’s kinematics was studied with a Madymo interior model. The results were benchmarked with known full-scale crash tests (like EuroNCAP). At the APROSYS final event, workpackage 2 will present improvements to the truck or trailer’s side. As a starting point concepts and ideas were collected in a brainstorming session. A crucial role for the further work of workpackage 2 plays the collection of in-depth cases comprising approximately 150 accidents where passenger cars are inflicting the truck or trailer’s side. This collection will be useful for analysing costs and benefits of various countermeasure and improvements to the truck/trailer side. 12 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 13 APROSYS MAGAZINE Sub-Project 3 - PEDESTRIAN AND PEDAL CYCLIST ACCIDENTS The first objective of Sub-Project 3 was to establish the operational framework for the work programme by examining the details of real world pedestrian and cyclist impact scenarios. Two successive approaches were employed for this purpose. First, national accident statistics were reviewed to identify the primary accident scenarios concerned in serious and fatal accidents. Second, an In Depth Database of accident cases conforming to these primary scenarios was constructed to provide more detailed accident scene information - including vehicle details (vehicle type, estimated speed, contact locations), injuries sustained by the casualty, road details (road layout, speed limit, relevant infrastructure details). The national statistics highlighted the many similarities regarding pedestrian and cyclist accidents in the different countries, for example; • The most frequently injured age group (11 to 20 years of age); • The most frequent collision partner (passenger car). Heavier vehicles are more likely to cause serious injuries; • The most frequent part of the collision partner striking the pedestrian or cyclist (the front); • The light and weather conditions (mainly day light, in fine weather, on a dry road surface); • Location of the accidents (urban, low speed limit environment). These locations rarely accounted for the majority of fatalities. The national statistics highlighted also several differences, for example; • There was a higher proportion of child casualties in the UK; • There was a higher proportion of fatalities in Spain; • The gender split for pedestrians was nearly even but for cyclists it ranged from nearly even in Sweden to almost 90:10 in Spain; • Pedestrians were most likely to be involved in an accident whilst crossing the road (away from a junction), however cyclists were more likely to be involved in an accident at a junction. The In Depth Database (IDD) consisted of 63 pedestrian cases and 7 cyclist cases. An analysis of the database gave the following main findings; • In most areas, the database was representative of the European epidemiology; • Injury risks for fatal adult pedestrians were not significantly different to vehicle occupants; • Injury risks for fatal elderly pedestrians were significantly different to vehicle occupants; • A better relationship was found between ISS (Injury Severity Score) and impact speed than between MAIS and impact speed; • The locations of primary head impacts with vehicles were identified and lay principally on the windscreen, scuttle and A-pillar. Child head impacts were also identified in these regions; • There was a considerable over representation of elderly fatals at MAIS3 than would be expected from population studies conducted on vehicle occupants. 13 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 14 Sub-Project 3 Location of primary head impact locations on a schematic vehicle 1,0 APROSYS IDAD ISS vs Velocity Elderly (60+) Fatal ISS(EF) 40 Figure: Over representation of elderly fatal casualties dying with only MAIS 3 level injuries 30 ISS 20 16+(10%) MAIS4 5/12=42% =MAIS3 MAIS3 6% PoF 10 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Impact Velocity km/h As a consequence of the analysis a number of concerns were expressed; • Whether the current injury scoring systems based on car occupants are meaningful for vulnerable road users (VRUs), and in particular for certain age groups; • Whether elderly adults (one of the priority VRU groups) may be adequately protected by current and impending pedestrian safety legislation criteria, Therefore, one of the recommendations from the analysis of the In Depth Database was that a calibration of MAIS and ISS against fatality/non fatality for a much larger sample of pedestrians was necessary, with the elderly (>60 years of age) ranked separately to the under 60’s population, and the appropriate injury risk functions derived to see what are deemed to be the relevant HIC values for vulnerable road users and in particular for elderly vulnerable road users involved pedestrian impacts. Overall the foundations laid by the National epidemiology and the In Depth Database will be used in the APROSYS work concerning vulnerable road user Vehicle Test Methods and Vehicle System Technologies for improved vulnerable road user safety. In particular: • The IDD will be utilised, together with accident reconstructions, to examine whether all real world injuries are adequately assessed by the current test methods; • The situation of over-representation of fatal elderly adults identified by the IDAD analyses will be addressed in considering alternate limits for head injury criteria; • The cases in the IDD will assist in this process by identifying the spread of body contact regions across vehicle front ends - specifically, the head impact contact points for children, adults and cyclist; • The cases in the IDD will also be of benefit in identifying any real world accident scenarios beyond those catered for in the test methods but of importance for injuries and fatalities. 14 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 15 APROSYS MAGAZINE Sub-Project 4 - MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS One of the objectives of Sub-Project 4 is to obtain detailed information about motorcyclist’s road accidents. During the first phase of the project, a comprehensive accidentology analysis has been carried out. For that, different intensive and in-depth databases from several European countries have been used. It is important to notice that similar results and trends have been observed regarding PTW accidents in the different countries analysed. It has been found that the larger number of fatal and serious accidents occur in seven particular scenarios. In-depth analyses on these specific scenarios have been carried out. A particular effort has been done in the analysis of cases where the rider impacts against infrastructure elements, and also in the assessment of the performance of riders’ protective devices (helmets and protective clothing). Relevant information for the characterization of motorcycles’ accidents (causation, kinematics of the accident, more frequent injuries, protective equipment performance, …) has been obtained. Another important topic dealt with in SP4 is the interaction of motorcyclists against road infrastructure. Activities on this topic have been related with the study of injury mechanisms and injury criteria to be used in the case of motorcyclists impacting roadside barriers. For that purpose, the HUMOS 2 human model was used and compared with dummy models to establish which is the most suitable dummy for representing humans. The development of a proposal of test procedure to assess passive safety of motorcyclists protective devices implemented in roadside barriers is currently in progress. FE model of the Gilera Nexus The improvement of protective equipment is a very important subject also considered in this Sub-Project. In particular, helmets and protective garment are taken into account. An evaluation of the current standard ECE R22 at the light of real accidents coming from accident databases has been performed. A link with SP5 has been created to work together in the proposal of improvements in the current regulation. A helmet prototype with a better performance in terms of chin protection and rotational acceleration effects reduction are being developed. At this stage of the project, materials have been selected and material properties have been obtained, so the helmet behaviour will be improved by using simulations. Also a new prototype of thorax protector is being developed, based on ergonomics and taking into account simulations performed within the HUMOS 2 model. The thorax protector is designed and materials to be used in the prototype manufacturing are currently being characterized. 15 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 16 Sub-Project 4 Two crash tests of a motorcycle (Gilera Nexus from Piaggio) against a car have been performed with the aim of defining the firing strategies of innovative passive safety systems able to be implemented, by instance, in the rider garment. A first approach in the investigation of these activating strategies is already done, based in the two crash tests in ISO configurations. This activity is based also in simulations carried out with FE models of the motorcycle and generic car models coming from SP7. 16 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 17 APROSYS MAGAZINE Sub-Project 5 - BIOMECHANICS The development of protection measures for road users, either technical or regulatory, implies that the tolerance of the human body to impact is well known. Also, the evaluation of safety devices assumes that tools are available to simulate the response of the human body to impacts and to estimate the risk of injury sustained by road accident victims. The Sub-Project Biomechanics aims at establishing a state-of-the-art in the field of human tolerance to impacts and criteria used to quantify it. It also aims at the development of simulation tools; crash test dummies and human body numerical models. For this purpose, SP5 is organized in 3 workpackages. The ULP finite element head model The first workpackage is devoted to the definition of injury criteria for the various body segments and to the establishment of injury risk curves that can be used with simulation tools. The injury risk curves and injury criteria available from the literature for head, thorax, abdomen and lower limb have been reviewed and analyzed. Complementary experiments have been conducted in order to collect data to consolidate certain injury criteria. A review of statistical methods applicable to the computation of injury risk curves from small data samples has been realized as well as a review of scaling methods allowing to derive mechanical properties of biological materials for subjects of different anthropometry and different age. Injury criteria and injury risk curves have been proposed for WORLDSID average male and small female dummies and others will be soon released for the THOR frontal crash dummy. The prediction of head injuries received much attention. A comparative review of existing finite element models of the head has been conducted from which one particular upgraded model has been selected in order to address the question of head protection in the various accident scenarios dealt with by other APROSYS Sub-Projects (car occupants, cyclists and pedestrians). The model is being improved thanks to the acquisition of complementary data on diffuse axon injury (DAI) production mechanisms and on mechanical behaviour of the cerebral matter. Finally, soft tissue mechanical properties, that are important to refine the models of the thoracic and abdominal organs, have been collected on tissue samples of these organs (liver, kidney, ..) The second workpackage develops a small female version of the WORLDSID side impact dummy. A specification document defining the dimensional and the functional characteristics has been established. The design has been derived from the average male dummy mainly by down scaling. With respect to the average male, some adaptations were necessary. Design and manufacturing of two prototypes were achieved after 18 months. Then, an extensive campaign of tests was realized in order to check the conformity of the mass and geometry and of the kinematic behaviour with respect to the specifications. The dummy has been tested in numerous laboratories specialized in vehicle and dummy testing all over the world. The prototype shows a satisfying overall rating (6.7/10 according to ISO TR 9790). Modifications have been proposed in order to further improve biofidelity, durability and handling. A new method to measure the thorax deformation is under development in order to better take into account the distorsion sustained in case of an oblique impact. These modifications will be integrated in an updated version of the prototype and will be evaluated in the next period. WorldSID 5th female dummy in NBDL test set-up The third workpackage deals with the development of human numerical models enabling the simulation of impact responses and the prediction of the injury risk. The starting point of this W, was the HUMOS2 model family. From a generic model based on the geometry of a sitting (close to) average male, the HUMOS2 project produced models 17 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 18 Sub-Project 5 with different sizes, including small female and tall male, thanks to scaling tools designed for that purpose. In the same way, different postures could be assigned to models thanks to positioning tools developed within the project. In SP5, the work was pursued in order to upgrade the mesh of certain body segments and define new mesh control points for the scaling and positioning tools. The effects of age (including children) on the geometry changes and on the material properties have also been addressed. Body segments such as head-neck or lower limbs have been modelled in detail: When the detailed information is needed from these body regions, they are coupled with a basic model by a user-friendly interface. Besides, one of the major interests of numerical models as compared to dummies is that one can simulate postures as well as stiffening of the body due to muscle activity during the pre-crash phase. To this end, experiments have been conducted with human volunteers on a driving simulator in order to record the driver’s reactions when an accident is unavoidable. The results in terms of posture and muscular stiffness will be integrated in the models in order to make them “active”. The on-going work is aiming at transforming these research tools into true industrial tools usable for design and safety performance evaluation. For this, typical accidents will be simulated in which the victims will be represented by numerical human models. Several scenarios have been selected in order to cover the scope of other SPs : occupant in frontal collision (against light or heavy vehicle), occupant in near-side or far-side lateral impact and pedestrians. Apart from biofidelity of human models, the accuracy of simulations is determined by the availability of information needed to define the boundary conditions. If the case is a real accident, the information available is not complete or not enough accurate and a close co-operation is needed with the car makers in order to obtain a FE model of the car, which is not often possible. On the contrary, the medical records can be very well known. If the case comes from a laboratory, the boundary conditions can be much better known but the victim is represented by a post-mortem subject which is not representative of a real victim. The simulation of these cases should demonstrate the capability of human models to reproduce the response of the human body in an accident, including individual variability (due to age, gender, dimensions) and anticipative reactions and to demonstrate their power in predicting realistic injury outcome. During this project several human models have been developed in different codes. Although they have been extensively validated it becomes clear that the validation process should be standardized. The next step will be to define precise validation procedures with strictly defined response corridors. Simulation of the deformation of the thorax under airbag loading Active human model 18 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 19 APROSYS MAGAZINE Sub-Project 6 - INTELLIGENT SAFETY SYSTEMS In this Sub-Project further progress in car safety technology is envisioned from the use of pre-crash systems. Such systems make use of sensing which looks around the vehicles, so information about the crash can be available prior to the impact. The focus is on system definition, specification and validation of a side pre-crash system with sensors, algorithms and actuators. Specific research objectives are: • Outline specification for an advanced adaptive safety system for side impact protection, including estimation of the pre-crash system potential for injury reduction. • Design and construction of experimental car equipped with side sensor system, decision algorithms and HMI for evaluation in real traffic • Set up of test methods for pre-crash sensing system Work in this Sub-Project has been divided into 5 work packages reflecting the general work flow: system definition, sensor systems, actuators, system integration and testing. In the final evaluation crash test in early 2008, SP6 plans to have the whole integrated side protection system in the loop: The sensing system detects the approaching barrier, the decision module triggers the actuator system, which in turn has to be in place early enough to reduce intrusion and intrusion velocity of the barrier into the side of the test car. This means a challenge also to the sensing system, as the environment of a crash test hall (very bright lights, many radar reflections by metal) is unusual for the common traffic situations the system was designed for. Thus, SP6 has built a test rig with the sensors implemented, under which the barrier can run through. Parts of the same type of car as used in the final crash are attached to the test rig and the sensors are mounted in the same fashion as they will be in the final crash. Thus, the sensing system "sees" the same as in the final crash, even with full velocity of the barrier up to the collision time. The tests performed in November 2006 with a preliminary version of the risk assessment algorithm showed good results. 19 tests were carried out at different barrier velocities from 5 kph to 50 kph. In almost all cases, the sensors triggered a light correctly at about 200 ms before the collision time. However, the main point was that the data taken proved to be very valuable for their original purpose: to adjust the algorithms afterwards to the unusual environment. The development phase of the side impact protection system of SP6 is almost finalised. The side-looking pre-crash sensing system fusing short distance radar and stereo video is ready and currently tested. A third generation of the Shape-Memory-Alloy based actuator featuring a completely new protection concept was designed and built. The final dimensions are currently defined using simulations. In March 2007, in a different crash test hall, the sensing system was tested again with critical objects, however, with the objects stopping (braking acceleration >> 10 m/s2) in front of the vehicle under test. Here, the scenarios tested, were based on a careful examination of the accident statistics, to cover as much of the relevant angles and speeds as possible. Consequently, the approaching angle and orientation of the object varied. A first analysis showed that the sensing system was able to detect many of these cases. Only at the very borders of the field of view, where there are few cases in the accident statistics, the sensing system did not recognise the object reliably enough to give a trigger. 19 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 20 Sub-Project 6 Finally, the sensing system has to trigger the actuator system, which limits the intrusion and intrusion velocity into the passenger compartment. In order to check the communication between both, the (non-integrated) actuator was connected to the sensing system CAN bus and triggered by the sensing system. After resolving initial problems, the communication now works reliably, even with a CAN bus under high load. In the run of the actuator development it was found that the chosen concept of locking the driver's door to the car frame was sub-optimal. Hence, a new concept was developed (see picture), a corresponding actuator defined and tested and dimensioned in FE simulations. Prototypes are now being built and will be tested in subsystem crash tests in July. Active parts Tunnel sleeve and reinforcement Unstruck side 1 2 3 4 1- door box pusher 2- sleeve 3- pop-out bolt and actuator 4- struck side supports 5 6 7 5- transversal tube 6- tunnel reinforcement 7- tunnel sleeve 8 9 10 8- unstruck side reinforcement 9- oblique reinforcement 10- crash box reinforcement The sensing system tests will proceed with a false alarm study in usual traffic and defined reproducible scenarios at an airport in Memmingerberg (Germany). In October 2007, true alarms will be examined again at the VeHIL test facility (TNO) in scenarios with accelerated objects. Then, in early 2008, SP6 will carry out the final crash test to evaluate the efficiency of the actuator and demonstrate the integrated character of the system. 20 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 21 APROSYS MAGAZINE Sub-Project 7 - VIRTUAL TESTING Objective By Virtual Testing, a particular innovative methodology is implied, with computer based crash simulations as its core instrument. It combines most enhanced modelling techniques along with quality control assessment tools and procedures, allowing for regulated thus most predictive and reliable evaluations. Although it is generally acknowledged that simulation-based analysis has become a major instrument in the improvement of occupant and pedestrian safety evaluations of road vehicles, there were still major confusions concerning the ability to perform good simulations reproducing known scenarios, and conducting predictive simulations. Lack of regulated procedures for evaluations and off-the-shelf models is still a challenging obstacle in order to extend the range of its applications to real world accident scenarios. The Virtual Testing Sub-Project has the ambitious objective of setting the way for similar breakthroughs with much more flexibility and diversity, due to cost-effective and non-destructive nature of computer simulations of real world accident scenarios. Contribution to the safety problem The goal is to contribute to a drastic reduction of injury causes due to road accidents by providing a promising environment for all contributors to this issue. This goal will partially be achieved by providing the necessary tools and methodologies to the accident scenario Sub-Projects and by disseminating these developments directly to the automotive safety community. When sources of accidents and means of providing protective devices may be studied (via objective simulation capabilities) at low cost and high predictive efficiency, the SP aim will be achieved from a qualitative point of view. The SP thus provide vehicle manufacturers as well as normative boards and consumer organisations with cost-efficient and globally comparative models and tools in order to proceed with quantitative measures. The community has shown a strong will on this issue for which the means will be provided here. Approach This Sub-Project partly builds on the results obtained in the ongoing EC-funded virtual testing projects VITES and ADVANCE. The main area of application of this Sub-Project is road user safety assessment and injury evaluations/predictions in real life accidents. This is realised via the provision of highly intensive simulation capabilities to other Sub-Projects as well as the general crash-safety and automotive community, allowing for provision of protective measures, objective evaluation and rating tools. The SubProject is organised around four major work packages. Work-packages 7.1 Improvement of predictive capabilities of numerical models (creating bullet models for comparative and rated crash simulations) Work items included are: • Development of material and assembly models and procedures to include the effects of “ageing” in vehicle crash performance evaluation/design • Improvement of predictive capabilities of vehicle numerical models such that virtual testing can become an integrated part in safety system design and regulations. • Provision of generic vehicle models for safety analysis • Conducting reference experimental work for validation of models 21 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 22 Sub-Project 7 This WP is now closed and has provided experimental data and valuable models including airbags, material models, barriers, dummies, and 6 vehicle models referred to as GCM (generic car models). GCM3 deformed shapes in EU-NCAP front crash test GCM3 (Large executive car) Courtesy of CRF Generic MPV model obtained by morphing of Dodge Caravan model GCM6 or GTM (Heavy Truck) by TUG 7.2 Analysis of real world scenarios via exploratory techniques and dispersion analysis (building up methods for real life analysis) The main objectives of this WP are to introduce and evaluate the application of exploratory methods (such as stochastic analysis, DOE, response surface methods, reliability based approach and robust optimisation) in order to simulate responses corresponding to real world accident scenarios which may not be taken into account by standard normative procedures and physical crash tests. Additionally, methods for establishing the typical flow for regulatory virtual testing applications are devised. In order to achieve these objectives : • Innovative exploratory analysis and simulation methods are employed and adapted to the special case of passenger safety simulations taking into account possible sources of dispersion. • The robustness and predictive capabilities of simulations are assessed using advanced analysis methods. In particular, impact of “optimized” structures on robustness of responses will be studies. • Demonstrators are provided in order to evaluate the feasibility of application of crash simulation codes in conjunction with exploratory methods for virtual real world accident scenario reconstruction. • Methods for the analysis of sources of dispersion of input data and their consequences on evaluation and rating criteria are investigated in order to enhance the quality and level of predictability of numerical simulations. 22 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 23 APROSYS MAGAZINE 7.3 Development of new simulation related technologies and user-friendly tools In order to implement and promote intensive and structured use of virtual testing for the prediction of loading on the occupants and corresponding injury mechanisms during real world crash accident scenarios, it is essential to provide new technologies issued from computer implementations and the necessary user-friendly simulation, analysis and rating tools. It is the primary objective of this WP to provide a solid CAE support for this purpose via : • Improvements, VT templates, extensions and user interface developments of the virtual testing rating tool ADVISER developed during the SP5 ADVANCE and VITES projects (2nd generation); • Provision of new evaluation technologies such as 2/3-D image recognition and analysis tool; • Development of evaluation criteria and rating procedures; • Development of specific tools needed for enhancing the simulation activities performed within this SP as well as all others (accident reconstruction, Interfacing, pre-processing, ASP and distributed networking technology); ADVISER RATING AND VT ASSESSMENT 7.4 Integration of virtual testing in regulatory test procedures. The main focus of this work package is the implementation/dissemination of virtual testing in traffic safety regulations and procedures. Main objectives are to: • Define virtual testing procedures for existing regulations and NCAP procedures, based on results coming from the ongoing projects VITES and ADVANCE; • Develop demonstrators that clearly show the enhancements in traffic safety by incorporation of virtual testing procedures in existing regulations; • Define virtual testing procedures for new regulations and NCAP procedures, based on developments made in the other Sub-Projects of this IP; • Develop demonstrators that clearly show the further improvements in traffic safety by incorporation of virtual testing procedures in new regulations, in close collaboration with the other Sub-Projects in this IP; • Discuss/negotiate with regulatory bodies (inside and outside EU) to have the proposed virtual testing procedures implemented in regulations; • Support regulatory bodies with the implementation of the virtual testing procedures by providing procedures and guidelines. 23 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 24 Sub-Project 7 So far the important achievements of the Virtual Testing Sub-Project may be summarized: • Generic models and enhanced modelling techniques taking into account needs of other SP’s • 2nd generation virtual testing rating tools and platforms for large scale simulations and validation procedures representing real world accidents • Preparation of prototype for virtual pedestrian safety assessment • Integration and dissemination activities and demonstrators for integration of virtual testing in regulations 24 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 16:54 Pagina 25 APROSYS MAGAZINE Colofon Aprosys World-wide, vehicle safety experts agree that significant further reductions in fatalities and injury numbers could be achieved by deploying appropriate passive (or crash) safety strategies. The FP6 APROSYS Integrated Project (IP) answers to this by development and introduction of critical technologies that improve passive safety for all European road users for priority accident types and levels of crash severity. The field of passive safety concerns in particular human injury biomechanics, vehicle crashworthiness and protection systems. APROSYS is mobilizing and integrating the European scientific & technological expertise for the development of new technologies for the protection of road users in all relevant accident conditions. Furthermore, this IP aims to increase the level of competitiveness of the European industry by developing new safety technologies. The consortium consists of about 50 partners, consisting of top vehicles manufacturers, suppliers and other industries, universities, research institutes and representative organizations from 12 EU member states, including some of the newly joined member states. Partners: ALTAIR, BARC - University of Birmingham, BAST, University of Bolton, CELLBOND, Chalmers University of Technology, CIC, CIDAUT, CONCEPT, CRF, DAINESE, DC, DEKRA, ESI Group, ESI Software, EC - European Commission, FAURECIA, FEMA, FhG, FIAT, FTSS, GDV, APPLUS+ IDIADA, IFTR - Polish Academy of Sciences, INRETS, INSIA UPM - Universidad Politectica de Madrid, IST, LAB, LMU - University of Munich, PDB, POLITO - Politecnico di Torino, PSA, REGIENOV, RWTH, SGSD, SIEMENS RS, SKODA, Schmitz Cargobull, Siemens, TK- P, TNO, TOYOTA, TRL, TU/e - Technical University of Eindhoven, TUG - Technical University of Graz, ULP - Universite Louis Pasteur, UNIFI - University of Firenze, VW, WUT IAAM - University of Warsaw 25 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 16:54 Pagina 26 Contributions to this magazine: SP1: SP2: SP3: SP4: SP5: SP6: SP7: car accidents heavy vehicles pedestrians/cyclists accidents motorcycle accidents biomechanics intelligent safety systems virtual testing Editors: Graphic Design: Copyright Photography: Reports are available online or can be ordered via: Mervyn Edwards, TRL Jürgen Gugler, TU Graz Roger Hardy, CIC Begoña Pérez-Magallón, CIDAUT Jean-Pierre Verriest, INRETS Joachim Tandler, SIEMENS VDO Kambiz Kayvantash, ALTAIR IP Management Team RADAR design, Deurne Partner organisations www.aprosys.com Should you be interested in having additional information on the APROSYS project, please do not hesitate to contact the IP Management Team: Aprosys IP Management Team TNO Science and Industry Gijs Kellendonk, Margriet van Schijndel-de Nooij Monique Masius Automotive | Intergated Safety P.O. Box 756 NL-5700 AT Helmond The Netherlands Tel: +31 40 265 26 06 Fax: +31 40 265 26 01 E-mail: monique.masius@tno.nl 26 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 27 Aprosys_magazine 03-09-2007 13:47 Pagina 28