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Predicting Safer Vehicle Font-End Shapes for Pedestrian Lower Limb Protection via a Numerical Optimization Framework

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Abstract

Lower limb injuries occur frequently in vehicle-to-pedestrian collisions and vehicle front-end shape has a significant influence on pedestrian lower limb injuries Therefore, the aim of the current study is to propose an effective optimization framework for vehicle front-end design and to predict safer vehicle front-end shapes for pedestrian lower limb protection using this optimization framework. To achieve this, an optimization framework combining the genetic algorithm (GA) in MATLAB and finite element (FE) simulations in LS-DYNA was proposed and applied to predict safer vehicle frontend shapes for pedestrian lower limb protection. The optimization results indicate that it is feasible and reliable to use the proposed optimization framework in vehicle front-end shape optimization for pedestrian lower limb protection. The predicted safer vehicle front-end shapes suggest that the vehicle front-end designs with a lower bumper stiffener close to the ankle, a bumper absorber higher than the knee and a bonnet leading edge above the hip joint would be beneficial for pedestrian lower limb protection. Biomechanical analysis implies that a plane-approximating support to both the upper and lower leg from the vehicle front-end structure could reduce lower limb lateral bending and hence injury risk greatly.

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Abbreviations

LBSH:

lower bumper stiffener height, mm

LBSD:

lower bumper stiffener depth, mm

BAH:

bumper absorber height, mm

BLEH:

bonnet leading edge height, mm

BLED:

bonnet leading edge depth, mm

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51805162), Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (Grant No. 2018JJ3532) and Scientific Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department (Grant No. 17C0640).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, 411201, China

    Guibing Li, Huaxing Ma & Guoqiang Gao

  2. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China

    Tongqi Guan

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  1. Guibing Li
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  2. Huaxing Ma
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  4. Guoqiang Gao
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Correspondence to Guibing Li.

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Li, G., Ma, H., Guan, T. et al. Predicting Safer Vehicle Font-End Shapes for Pedestrian Lower Limb Protection via a Numerical Optimization Framework. Int.J Automot. Technol. 21, 749–756 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12239-020-0073-0

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