The influence of coach interior partitions and seat leaf-tables on occupant injury in a frontal collision

Abstract

For a typical coach, interior seats and partitions are considered as secondary collision objects in the event of a frontal collision. When a seat back has a deployable leaf-table, the additional effect of the leaf-table should be considered too. To investigate the effect of occupant collision with these objects, a full-scale frontal crash test of a coach was conducted with an impact velocity of 30 km/h. For virtual tests, a coupling model of partition-seat-occupants on a sled was established using the combination of LS-DYNA and MADYMO. It was validated using the full-scale test. The injury severity of the first row occupants was evaluated under different restraint conditions. Results show that occupants who are not belted and those with a lap belt only have the highest injury severity. A comparison of kinematics and injury characteristics between the first row occupants and the non-first row occupants was conducted to provide a comparative analysis.