Mason scientist conducting limousine crashworthiness safety research

Cing-Dao Kan, Professor/Director, Center for Collision Safety and Analysis (CCSA), received funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for:"NHTSA Finite Elements Modeling Services IDIQ Limousine Crashworthiness Safety Research."  

For this project, Kan and his collaborators will focus on side impact protection, roof crush resistance, airbag systems, and perimeter seating configurations for rear occupants. 

They will focus primarily on the rear passenger compartment. However, NHTSA would like to, and Mason researchers are well prepared to take the opportunity to, develop models for the front row occupant compartment, as well. Therefore, development of the initial finite element (FE) models will include the front row.   

Physical tests will include anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs) in the front and rear and will be used for validation of the developed limousine FE models. However, front row parametric simulations and the development of updated airbag systems for the front row will not be performed at this time. 

Different limousine categories, such as stretch limousines versus van-converted limousines can have significantly different crash characteristics, especially in side impact configurations, depending on the height of the sill and other structural characteristics. It is anticipated that two (2) FE limousine models representing these categories will be developed and used during this research. 

Kan received $763,109 from NHTSA for this research. Funding began in Sept. 2022 and will end in July 2023.