The influence of a vehicle dynamics control system on the occupant's dynamic response during a vehicle collision

This paper aims to apply a vehicle dynamics control system to mitigate a vehicle collision and to study the effects of this systems on the kinematic behaviour of the vehicle's occupant. A unique three-degree-of-freedom vehicle dynamics-crash mathematical model and a simplified lumped-mass occupant model are developed. The first model is used to define the vehicle body's crash parameters and it integrates a vehicle dynamics model with a model of the vehicle's front-end structure. In this model, the anti-lock braking system and the active suspension control system are co-simulated, and the associated equations of motion are developed. The second model aims to predict the effect of the vehicle dynamics control system on the kinematics of the occupant. The Lagrange equations are used to solve that model owing to the complexity of the obtained equations of motion. It is shown from the numerical simulations that the vehicle dynamics-crash response and occupant behaviour can be captured and analysed quickly and accurately. Furthermore, it is shown that the vehicle dynamics control system can affect the crash characteristics positively and that the occupant's behaviour is improved.