REACTIVE SEAT DESIGN FOR OPTIMUM WHIPLASH MITIGATION AT DIFFERENT CRASH SEVERITIES

This paper presents the development of reusable whiplash mitigating car seats that can effectively manage the response of the seatback to rear impact for a wide range of crash severities. For this purpose, computational multi-body models of a generic car seat and a biofidelic 50th percentile male human model for rear impact are developed. Three reactive car-seat design concepts are proposed whose effectiveness are demonstrated by simulating rear impacts at severities ranging from 4.5 to 30 kph. Among the proposed seat concepts, the one which employs a modification on the conventional seatback structural design, provides the most optimum neck protection at all crash severities. For the covering abstract see ITRD E143807.

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