Design of the active hood lift system using orthogonal arrays

Abstract

The majority of pedestrian fatalities and injuries are caused by traffic accidents. Injuries of occupants in a vehicle have been considerably decreased due to many efforts by the industry. However, efforts for the protection of pedestrians still seem to be insufficient. Many industries are striving for better protection of pedestrians by using an active hood lift system, rather than reforming the existing structure. The active hood lift system lifts the hood when the vehicle hits a pedestrian, thus mitigating head injury to the pedestrian. In this research, the active hood lift system is designed to enhance the performance for protection. The active hood lift system is analysed by using the non-linear finite element method. Computer simulation is conducted for the impact between the headform and the hood. An optimization problem is formulated to incorporate the analysis results. An iterative optimization algorithm using orthogonal arrays is utilized for the design in a discrete space. The injury level to the head is significantly reduced in the newly designed product. © IMechE 2008.