A computational study of seat and seatbelt performance for protecting 6-12 year-old children in frontal crashes

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the body size for 6-12 year-old children as well as belt and seat design factors on injury outcomes in frontal crashes using computational simulations. Custom software was created to automatically scale and position a MADYMO child dummy model with an improved pelvis and abdomen geometry from child data. A parametric analysis of the effects from child size, seat belt anchorage locations, seat cushion length and seat stiffness on the injury predictors of child passengers aged between 6 and 12 in the FMVSS213 crash scenario was conducted. Child size was the dominant variable affecting the outcome measures. Seat design variables and the seat belt system variables had opposing effects on outcome measures, particularly between head and knee excursions, highlighting the importance of using optimisation techniques for future seat belt and seat designs to improve rear seat older child protection.