2019 NDIA GROUND VEHICLE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY SYMPOSIUM MODELING & SIMULATION, TESTING AND VALIDATION (MSTV) TECHNICAL SESSION AUGUST 13-15, 2019 - NOVI, MICHIGAN SEATBELT-MOUNTED AIRBAG DESIGN FOR OCCUPANT PROTECTION IN TACTICAL VEHICLES DURING FRONTAL CRASHES Jingwen Hu 1 , Nichole Orton 1 , Kyle Boyle 1 , Nikhil Ashok 1 , Julie Klima 2 , Celia Staniak 2 , Risa Scherer 2 , Matthew Reed 1 1. University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, MI 2. U.S. Army Ground Vehicles Systems Center (GVSC), Warren, MI ABSTRACT Seatbelt-mounted airbag is a new type of occupant restraint system, in which the airbag is integrated into the seatbelt and hence can be easily and quickly implemented into the current tactical vehicles without significant vehicle structure or interior changes. The objective of this study was to develop, optimize, and demonstrate seatbelt-mounted airbag designs for reducing occupant injury risks in a light tactical vehicle under frontal crashes. A total of 19 sled tests and over 30 FE simulations were performed to find the optimal seatbelt-mounted airbag designs for protecting occupants represented by three sizes of ATDs and two military gear configurations. Various lap-belt-mounted airbag and shoulder-belt-mounted airbag designs were evaluated for driver, front-seat passenger, and rear-seat passenger locations in a tactical vehicle. The test and simulation results showed that the optimized designs substantially reduced the occupant injury risks to the head, neck, and chest compared to the baseline tests. This study demonstrated the benefit of adding a properly designed seatbelt-mounted airbag to improve the occupant protection in frontal crashes under an environment representing a light tactical vehicle. Citation: J. Hu, N. Orton, K. Boyle, N. Ashok, J. Klima, C. Staniak, R. Scherer, M. Reed “Seatbelt-Mounted Airbag Design For Occupant Protection In Tactical Vehicles During Frontal Crashes”, In Proceedings of the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium (GVSETS), NDIA, Novi, MI, Aug. 13-15, 2019. 1. INTRODUCTION Motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) accounted for a significant proportion of non-battle injuries in recent military conflicts. Writer et al. [1] reported that MVCs were the leading cause of non-battle injury among hospitalized U.S. Army soldiers deployed to the Persian Gulf War. Hauret et al. [2] also reported that 35% of soldiers in Iraq and 36% of soldiers in Afghanistan had non-battle injuries, and 12%-16% of them were caused by MVCs. Although the influence of advanced restraint systems, such as seatbelt pre-tensioners, load limiters, and airbags, on civilian occupant kinematics and injury outcomes in MVCs has DISTRIBUTION A. Approved for public release; distribution unlimited. OPSEC #: 2621