The Method of Improving Automobile Safety due to Improved Parameters of Car Seats with Passive and Active Head Restraints

In the event of a rear-end collision, the driver and passengers can sustain serious injuries of the cervical vertebrae and head.  To mitigate the effects of the collision, the authors of this article propose a method of designing car seats that meet passive safety requirements. The first step of this method includes justified approaches to designing a car seat and its elements for preliminary analysis of design compliance to passive safety requirements. It is shown how to take into consideration padding material characteristics and frame design, and how to build rational finite element models of the head restraints and seats that would guarantee the predefined accuracy of the results with the minimum time required to solve the problem. The second step of the method is used when the seat does not meet the predefined requirements or when its weight needs to be reduced.  Various options for design modification are proposed. To increase the effectiveness of the introduced modifications, the effect of the actual seat on the result accuracy is evaluated. Parameter variation boundaries that affect passive safety of the vehicle are determined through the choice of rational characteristics of padding material and the law of motion for constructions with active head restraint. The effectiveness of active head restraint designs for ensuring the best possible passive safety is shown. The study results of the real vehicle have proven that the influence of the car body on safety should be taken into consideration with regards to car seats. The article presents an example of the method application for improving car safety, which confirms that it can be successfully used for designing car seats that meet passive safety requirements for vehicles.

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