Investigation of the Early Inflation Characteris­tics of a Complex Folded Knee Airbag with the New Corpuscular Method in LS-DYNA

To address the challenging out-of-position (OoP) load case with Ls-Dyna, the corpuscular (particle) method has been recently developed together with the advanced finite element (FE) airbag simulation method. Within this study, an attempt is made to integrate this advanced airbag simulation method into a frontal knee airbag development process. The deployment kinematics of a complex driver knee airbag (DKAB) is also simulated using the control volume method. A dynamic airbag impactor test scenario serves as the validation goal of the airbag kinetic energy absorption properties and the unfolding kinematics, especially in the early phase of inflation. A passenger airbag (PKAB) design with different geometry can only be derived numerically with the help of numerical simulation. Finally, its mechanical properties (energy absorption and deployment characteristics) are verified by real dynamic impactor tests.