Investigation of Active Muscle Response on the Occupant‐Knee Airbag Interaction in Frontal Impacts

Knee airbags (KABs) have been implemented as one countermeasure to reduce potential occupant lower extremity injuries. Recent field data analysis suggests that femur and pelvis injuries are reduced in the presence of a deployed KAB, but the data also suggested that foot, ankle and leg injuries may increase. It has been demonstrated that tibia loads will increase for out‐of‐position occupants interacting with a deploying KAB, and that the ensuing kinematics are highly sensitive to the initial position of the lower extremities relative to the KAB. This study builds on previous work by exploring how the active muscle response of the occupant may influence the loading and kinematics of the lower extremities during a KAB deployment.