Heavy Truck Occupant Safety Analysis Using Finite Element Simulation

Numerical simulation of automotive crashes plays an important role in reducing the cost and time taken for predicting the results of a collision. The subject of interior crash protection has received much attention for automobiles than commercial vehicles like heavy trucks. This paper presents a Finite Element simulation of a heavy truck cab for safety analysis of its occupant during frontal collisions. The dashboard of the cab is modelled along with a steering column, floor and a roof top. Two type of acceleration pulses are used to calculate the Head Injury Criteria, Neck Injury and chest injury levels of the occupant. Three different scenarios of occupant namely without seatbelt, with seatbelt, and with both airbag and seatbelt are detailed. The results of simulation have demonstrated that the use of safety restraints has reduced the occupants injury to considerable levels.