Title: A reversible bumper system for protecting pedestrian lower limbs from car collisions

Authors: Sunan Huang, Jikuang Yang

Addresses: Department of Applied Mechanics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE 412 96, Goteborg, Sweden. ' Department of Applied Mechanics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE 412 96, Goteborg, Sweden; Research Center of Vehicle and Traffic Safety, SKLVB/Hunan University, 410082, Changsha City, China

Abstract: This study investigated the performance of a Reversible Bumper System (RBS) for protecting pedestrian lower limbs from car collisions. The Finite Element (FE) model of the RBS was developed based on a validated car front FE model. The FE models of a lower legform impactor and a pedestrian lower limb were used to investigate the performance of the RBS model at different impact conditions. It was finally determined that the RBS performance can be improved by reducing bumper stiffness; however, this performance is impaired in the bumper deploying process by the speed of 2.5 m/s or greater.

Keywords: traffic injuries; pedestrian injuries; lower limbs; reversible bumpers; finite element method; FEM; modelling; pedestrian safety; vehicle safety; vehicle design; vehicle impact; bumper stiffness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2010.034102

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2010 Vol.53 No.4, pp.288 - 299

Received: 09 Feb 2009
Accepted: 05 Jul 2009
Published online: 12 Jul 2010 *

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