3rd ICAI 2024

International Conference on Automotive Industry 2024

Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic

achieved the necessary prediction ability. However, the scope of vehicle virtual testing using simulations is constantly growing. From the above, it follows that the automotive industry is one of the leaders in the implementation of new virtual methods. In addition to established methods, such as FEM in crash simulations, new ways how to speed up and increase the effectiveness of development activities are being sought. One of the ways is the massive process automation of the computational models preparation and evaluation. Moreover, the attention is also paid to the process of finding of the best structural design according to specific criteria. This means the automation of the optimization process, which is still largely based on the designers and CAE engineers experience today. In this context, the idea of using artificial intelligence methods that offer a new dimension in the field of data processing is suggested. As part of a study focused on the optimization of safety restraint systems, we decided to design a procedure using an artificial intelligence approach for side airbag optimisation. 2. Problem Formulation and Methodology The aim of our study was an optimal side airbag design that would minimize the load on the driver in the event of a side-pole crash. The impact configuration shown in Fig. 1 is subject to the ECE-R135 homologation test (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe [online], 2015), as well as a series of so-called customer tests, of which Euro NCAP is relevant for the European market (Euro NCAP [online], 2024).

Figure 1: Side crash pole configuration

For a vehicle to pass homologation or customer tests, the load on the crash test dummy in the vehicle during the test must be lower than the limits defined by the relevant regulation. In the case of a side-pole crash, a number of values from the crash test dummy sensors are measured and evaluated. Several of the values are fundamentally influenced by the effect of the side airbag, which is usually located in the seat backrest. In the case of both the ECE-R135 homologation test and the Euro NCAP test, the

94