Abstract:

Occupant abdomen injury is a common injury in car crash, and 5-percentile female occupant is
prone to be submarining for her small stature. A frontal full width sled impact simulation model was built based
on finite element simulation software LS-DYNA with a Hybrid III 5th female dummy. A single control variable
method was used to investigate the effects of abdomen block stiffness on female occupant injuries and
submarining trend. The results show that the abdomen block stiffness had little influence on occupant chest
deformation and acceleration. While, the peak value of resultant acceleration, the value of 15-ms head injury
criterion (HIC15) and the peak value of pelvis rear rotation angle can rise when the value of abdomen block
stiffness increased in 25%; the peak value of resultant acceleration, the value of HIC15 and the peak value of
pelvis rear rotation angle can also rise when the value of abdomen block stiffness decreased in 25%. Therefore,injuries of female occupant can be increased to some extent, and the submarining trend can also be amplified
when the value of abdomen block stiffness is increased or decreased in 25%.

Key words: vehicle safety, frontal full width impact, female dummy, occupant injuries, abdomen block stiffness, finite element simulation