Abstract
Keywords - Pedestrian fatalities, Regulations, Euro-NCAP, Head and legs, Simulations
Abstract - In the EU there are over 7,000 pedestrian fatalities per year in road accidents, and consequently pedestrian protection is playing an increasingly important role in improving the passive safety of modern cars.
In order to reduce the severity of injuries to pedestrians in vehicle-pedestrian collisions, the
European Commission is discussing making pedestrian protection mandatory for all new vehicles. As of 2005, self-commitment by the automotive industry is planned, based on the requirements of the test procedures according to EEVC Working Group 17. These requirements are to be met in full by all new vehicles as of 2010.
Similar standard procedures have already been introduced as part of the Euro NCAP initiative, and have been applied and evaluated in the examination of the safety of new vehicles. Some pedestrian protection tests have been performed, but so far the maximum score obtained in Euro NCAP tests is 3 out of 4 stars. Although car manufacturers are working hard in this field most of them are still in the early stages of development, and the reality is that no vehicle on the market complies with the cur rent Euro NCAP specifications for pedestrian protection. Head and lower extremities are the most frequently injured body regions in a road accident.
The EEVC pedestrian protection procedure defines 4 impactors: adult headform, child headform, legform and upper legform.
Computer simulation is a powerful tool that helps car manufacturers to develop vehicle bodies that comply with all these procedures. We know that, to obtain good results in simulations involving impactors, a prior validation of the FE models is necessary. IDIADA has developed and validated its own mathematical leg and head PAM-CRASH models and is working on the development of pedestrian protection projects using them.