Simulations of Safety Aspects for Occpuants in Mine Blast Events

Abstract: Underbody mine blasts are events during which massive amounts of energy is transferred to a vehicle and its occupants during a very short time. The occupants are usually protected by both external (armor) and internal (seat suspension/belts etc.) features. Here, we aim at improving the safety of vehicles that experience a real threat of mine blasts. Through simulations using the finite element method, modified seat belts, airbags, and vertical seat damping mechanisms were tested. The designs were evaluated through injury criteria established for a virtual test dummy and distance measurements between the occupant and the hull in the simulation model. Modifications to the seat belt geometry that enable faster and stronger response yielded a greater clearance between the occupant’s head and the ceiling of the vehicle. This came at a cost of higher injury values, mainly in the neck. For a test case where the occupant’s head would hit the ceiling, airbags were shown to be able to prevent the impact and decrease injury values that were previously above the acceptance limit. The effect of a proposed damped seat construction was tested with regards to the stiffness and damping constants of the damping mechanism. It was shown that a damped mechanism can decrease the value of the injury criteria related to the acceleration of the spine by over 50 %.