Analysis of wayfarer side, front and rear impact with a lightweight pickup truck at center and front corners

Abstract

Wayfarer injuries and fatalities in the United States has taken an uprise in the past few decades. According to the data estimated by National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA), there are severe pedestrian injuries and fatalities. These injuries in many instances are caused by smaller trucks which are now dominant upon other passenger vehicles. Procedures have been proposed and implemented by the European Experimental Vehicle Committee (EEVC) for increasing pedestrian protection. In this study, computational impact analyses of 50th percentile pedestrian with a wayfarer – Lightweight Pickup truck are carried in a multi-body MADYMO workbench to examine the kinematics and potential injuries of the wayfarer in a vehicle collision. A Multi-body lightweight pickup truck model is developed and utilized with the 50th percentile male pedestrian model. The analysis of injuries is evaluated at three locations in the front end. The simulations are run at the side, front, and rear pedestrian standing configurations. Different factors including height of wayfarer, speed, and hood stiffness of the vehicle might influence the kinematics and severity of injury in a collision. The crash simulations are carried out at five different speeds to mirror the scenarios of traffic accidents occurring to adult wayfarers. The kinematic responses of the wayfarer, head injury locations, and injuries sustained at the head, chest, pelvis, and lower extremities are analyzed. The injuries to the wayfarer's head are shown to be dominant compared to other body parts. A Design of Experiments (DOE) is performed to examine the importance of truck design parameters and also to reduce head injury. Generally, at medium and higher speeds, injuries are more severe as body forces reach maximum level during post kinematics. This study also provides a method to update vehicle design to reduce the injuries and fatalities to wayfarers and can also be utilized for future collision protection regulations.