Stopping the Occupant of a Crashing Vehicle - A Fundamental Study

Occupant motion in a head-on collision is studied through classical solutions of a two-degree-of-freedom mathematical model simulating a colinear vehicle-occupant system. Stoppage of the elastically restrained occupant by general system tuning is demonstrated. Analysis of the system behavior over a range of initial vehicle speeds brings out the fundamental differences due to elastic and inelastic occupant restraint and due to changes of character of vehicle front end collapse. Consideration of practical application of the conclusions, generally, should be limited to systems with well-harnessed occupants.