IIHS Side Impact Parametric Study using LS-DYNA®

Side impact crashes are the second most common reason for vehicle passenger deaths after frontal crashes. In 2003, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) introduced its side impact crash test using a Moving Deformable Barrier (MDB) to encourage manufacturers to implement safety improvements, including side airbag coverage and stronger side structures, in most vehicle models. While many vehicles were rated poor in the beginning of testing in 2005, most of the vehicles were rated good in 2015. Improved IIHS ratings are associated with a more than 30% reduction in passenger deaths in multiple-vehicle side impact crashes. Of the remaining fatal side impact crashes, the majority are occurring at a more forward impact location and higher severity compared to the IIHS test. For this reason, the IIHS is planning a series of full-scale tests to evaluate the effect of different impacting vehicles and test setups with respect to today’s test protocol. For reducing costly, time-consuming, and complex full-scale testing, finite element (FE) simulations play an important role and are successfully used in vehicle safety research and development.