The airbag is an occupant protection device widely used in the automotive industry. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 requires the low-risk deployment airbag system to be utilized in vehicles to protect out-of-position occupants. This paper presents a design-for-six-sigma low-risk deployment passenger airbag optimized by adding a passenger protection wrap. The passenger protection wrap reduces the cushion impact force on the passenger by ensuring pressure dispersion. A series of static tests were conducted to demonstrate the proposed system using Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 test procedures. The test results shows that the proposed passenger airbag satisfies the criteria established by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 and also presents a significant improvement over conventional airbag systems.
Traffic safety facts 2001: occupant protection. Report DOT HS 809 474, US Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, DC, USA, 2001.
2.
PadmanabonJOkabeT.Real world injury patterns in narrow object frontal crashes: An analysis of US field data. SAE paper 2008-01-0527, 2008.
3.
HongSJParkWP.Real-world accident study on injury characteristics of elderly driver in car-to-car frontal crashes. Trans KSAE2011; 19: 12–19.
4.
KiuchiT. A simulation study on inflation induced and NCAP with depowered airbag. In: 16th international technical conference on the enhanced safety of vehicles, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, 31 May–4 June 1998, paper 98-S11-O-15, pp. 2518–2525. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
5.
BreedDS. A smart airbag system. In: 16th international technical conference on the enhanced safety of vehicles, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, 31 May–4 June 1998, paper 98-S5-O-13, pp. 1080–1091. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
6.
RattenburySJGloynsPF.A population study of UK car accidents in which restrained children were killed. SAE paper 933080, 1993.
7.
DumaSMRathALJerniganMV. The effects of depowered airbags on eye injuries in frontal automobile crashes. Am J Emergency Med2005; 23(1): 13–19.
8.
KimH.A study on the quality assurance for stable performance of passenger side airbag. SAE paper 2013-01-0079, 2013.
9.
WangJHTsaiTHTsaiLM.Hybrid gas inflator. US Patent 7,059,633 B2, 2006.
10.
CoxMAJordanMP.Multi-stage inflator. US Patent 8,047,569 B2, 2011.
11.
YooJH.A development of active vent airbag for the passenger new NCAP. SAE paper 2015-01-0024, 2015.
12.
MarklundPONilssonL.Optimization of airbag inflation parameters for the minimization of out of position occupant injury. Comput Mech2003; 31(5): 496–504.
13.
ShortCKozalS.Airbag parameter study with out-of-position small female test devices. SAE paper 2000-01-2204, 2000.
14.
Injury criteria for the 49 CFR Part 571.208. Report no. NHTSA-2008-0015, US Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, DC, USA, 2008.
15.
FordBCBusaccaTG.Airbag with active vent. US Patent 7,658,407 A1, 2008.
16.
WallaceMW.Vehicle occupant classification system and method. US Patent 6,609,054 B2, 2003.
17.
National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA) data resource website. Fatality analysis reporting system (FARS) encyclopedia, FARS data tables, US Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, DC, USA, http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx (2011, accessed August, 2011)
18.
Child restraint systems; child restraint anchorage systems. 49 CFR Parts 571, 596 [Docket No. 98-3390, Notice 2] RIN 2127-AG50. Final Rule, US Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, DC, USA, 1998.
19.
JeonSKLeeHJParkGJ.Evaluation and testing of out of position for airbag design. Trans KSAE2003; 11(6): 108–117.
20.
YooJHChoiHGChoYN. Research for the worst condition of 1yr child LRD regulation. Trans KSAE07-F02242007.
21.
KimHYLeeSKShinYJ.Analyses of deployment process and sled test for designing airbag module. Trans KSAE1998; 6(2): 118–128.
22.
LeeKHJooWS.Robust design of a driver-side airbag using the Taguchi method. Trans KSAE2004; 12(2): 131–138.
23.
HongJHMunMSSongSH.An optimum design methodology development using a statistical technique for vehicle occupant safety. Proc IMechE Part D: J Automobile Engineering2001; 215(4): 795–801.
