Prediction of Seat Deformation in Rear Crash Using LS-DYNA

It has always been a challenging task to simulate occupied rear crash for seating system. To design an ideal seat for resisting the load during rear impact is also a difficult task for the seat suppliers. Seat Suppliers are in continuous search of newer methods and techniques to reduce number of prototypes and testing cost. Analytical methods of predicting structural behavior using computer aided engineering (CAE) has been in place for quite sometime. A CAE method using LS-DYNA has been developed at Lear Corporation to simulate the rear impact and to predict the seat deformation. Rear Crash simulation has been performed on a six-way power driver seats using this procedure and back frame deformation predicted by the simulation has been validated to the physical test and a good correlation has been achieved. This paper discussed the methodology adopted and the correlation achieved.