Abstract:

In this paper, first, a new type of vehicle safety belt is developed based on a new clutch proposed as the key part of pretensioner of safety belt. Next, the structure composition, working principle and performances of the belt are introduced. Then, a mechanical model of the belt is established and the dynamic simulation and performance analysis for the pretensioner are carried out with ADAMS, finding that the new clutch is capable of transmitting movements credibly with an appropriate unreeled belt length. Finally, a frontal impact model of the belt is established with MADYMO. Simulated results show that the parameters, such as the head injury criterion, the thoracic acceleration, the axial femur force and the chest deformation, all reach the relevant standards such as GB11551-2003 and ECER94 well, that other injury indexes, such as the viscous injury response, the combined thoracic index and the cumulative 3-ms thoracic injury criterion, are all small enough for safety, and that the regu- larized injury index is kept at about 0.48. It is thus concluded that the newly-designed clutch effectively reduces the injury to passengers and furnishes passengers good protection.

Key words: clutch, pretensioner, vehicle safety belt, simulation, injury index, passenger protection performance