Citation

Miralbes R, Ranz D, Peña J. Int. J. Crashworthiness 2019; 24(2): 171-183.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13588265.2018.1424297

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

MPS (Motorcyclists' protection systems) play an essential role in the reduction of fatalities and morbidity involved in motorbike and moped accidents, since they offer protection from impact against road elements such as guardrail posts and nearby elements such as traffic signs, trees, etc. For the standardisation of such elements, different regulations have been developed which, by means of experimental tests, allow the simulation of those accidents through tests at a specific velocity and angle. Nevertheless, there is the possibility that, under different angles and velocity, those systems fail to be safe. To assess this, a series of accidents involving diverse angles and velocities have been studied through virtual tests by using numerical models and the finite elements method with a view to obtaining data on head acceleration and neural damage sustained in the event of collision against MPS. In addition, the accidentology for this type of vehicles has been studied in order to break accidents down according to impact angle and velocity impact range as well as age category and gender of those sustaining injuries. To that aim, homologated commercial MPS have been analysed in order to get the variation of the main biomechanical indexes depending on the impact angle and velocity; the results thus obtained have allowed us to determine the real security level of the MPS studied. This information has been extrapolated to determine the level of security provided by MPS. Finally some modifications in the homologation regulations to improve safety of MPS have been suggested.

Language: en

Keywords

Finite element method; HIC; impact; motorcycle; numerical; protection