An Examination of Pre-crash Braking Influence on Occupant Crash Response Using an Active Human Body Model

Real‐world occupant protection includes the influence of active safety technologies, such as autobrake\nsystems. This study uses an active human body model (called SAFER A‐HBM) with the capability to\nsimulate emergency braking events prior to a crash event. It is based on a mid‐sized male THUMS human body\nmodel, with added active muscles to control spine and extremities for braking.\nThe objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of the A‐HBM for industrial applications in the\ndevelopment of occupant protection technologies. Specifically, the influence on occupant responses in frontal\nimpacts with a preceding braking event is simulated, including variation in brake‐pulse duration and activation\nof an electrical reversible seatbelt retractor.\nAll the simulations followed through to the most important part of the crash phase, enabling a comparison\nof the occupant responses for the different simulation set‐ups. By adapting its characteristics depending on the\nsequence of the event, the A‐HBM is shown to be a feasible tool providing input to help guide the auto‐brake\nperformance design. Using it to replicate human performance during the whole sequence of pre‐crash to crash\nevent enables a real‐world, realistic comparison that provides unique possibilities to evaluate active and passive\nsafety technologies together and their interaction.