Submarining and lumbar spine injuries of occupants in reclined seat

doi:10.3785/j.issn.1008-973X.2025.04.003

Journal of ZheJiang University (Engineering Science)

2025, Vol. 59

Issue (4): 679-687 DOI: 10.3785/j.issn.1008-973X.2025.04.003

Submarining and lumbar spine injuries of occupants in reclined seat

Menghao PING1(

),Weiwei LIANG1,Qing ZHOU2,Liang TANG1,*(

)

1. School of Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
2. School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

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Abstract

Six anti-submarining countermeasures were developed with the modified Hybrid III 5th dummy to prevent the reclining occupants in intelligent vehicles, and a sensitivity analysis of the restraint system parameters affecting submarining was carried out. The effectiveness of the anti-submarining countermeasures was studied through frontal impact simulations at an impact speed of 48 km/h and sled tests. Results show that the reclining condition increases the risk of submarining while increasing the risk of injury to the head, neck and lumbar. The axial forces of lumbar increase in all countermeasures, suggesting that anti-submarining countermeasures can increase the risk of lumbar injury, indicating that there is a contradictory relationship between anti-submarining and lumbar spine fracture. The combination of shoulder belt load limiter and locking tongue, hip airbag, and the combination of retractor pretensioner and buckle pretensioner prevent reclining occupants from submarining and protect the lumbar spine, and the injury criteria of the head, neck, chest and leg of the occupant comply with the limit values specified in FMVSS 208.

Key words： frontal impact reclining condition anti-submarining lumbar spine injury modified dummy mode

Received: 05 February 2024 Published: 25 April 2025

CLC:

U 467

Fund: 国家自然科学基金资助项目（51975057）；汽车零部件先进制造技术教育部重点实验室开放课题基金资助项目（2021KLMT05）.

Corresponding Authors: Liang TANG E-mail: pingmenghao@hnu.edu.cn;happyliang@bjfu.edu.cn

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Cite this article:

Menghao PING,Weiwei LIANG,Qing ZHOU,Liang TANG. Submarining and lumbar spine injuries of occupants in reclined seat. Journal of ZheJiang University (Engineering Science), 2025, 59(4): 679-687.

URL:

https://www.zjujournals.com/eng/10.3785/j.issn.1008-973X.2025.04.003 OR https://www.zjujournals.com/eng/Y2025/V59/I4/679

汽车座椅后倾乘员下潜与腰椎损伤研究

使用改进的Hybrid III 5th假人对影响下潜的约束系统参数进行敏感性分析，提出6种防止智能驾驶汽车乘员在后倾座椅工况下发生下潜的保护方案. 通过碰撞车速为48 km/h的正面碰撞有限元分析和台车碰撞试验验证所提方案的有效性. 结果表明，后倾工况在增加乘员下潜风险的同时，增大了乘员头部、颈部和腰椎的伤害风险. 所有防下潜方案均导致腰椎轴向力增加，提示防下潜措施会增加腰椎损伤风险，表明防下潜与腰椎损伤之间存在矛盾关系. 肩带限力器与安全带单向锁止器的组合、髋部气囊、卷收器预紧器与锁扣预紧器的组合，可以消除乘员在后倾工况中的下潜现象，保护腰椎，乘员头部、颈部、胸部和腿部的伤害指标均符合FMVSS 208的限值要求.

关键词： 正面碰撞, 后倾工况, 防下潜, 腰椎损伤, 改进的假人模型

Fig.1 Modified Hybrid III 5th dummy model

Fig.2 Validation of modified dummy model by sled impact test^[43]

Fig.3 Dummy injury parameters^[43]

Fig.4 Angles of seat back and cushion

Fig.5 Seat belt pretensioners

Tab.1 Load conditions for shoulder belt load limiter

Tab.2 Anti-submarining countermeasures

Fig.6 Finite element model of sled impact test system

Fig.7 Sled impact test bench

Tab.3 Loading conditions of sled impact test

Tab.4 Submarining at different cushion angles

Fig.8 Influence of seat back reclining angles, pretensioners and load limiters on submarining

Fig.9 Dummy responses under different anti-submarining countermeasures

Fig.10 Influence of different anti-submarining countermeasures on submarining tendency

Fig.11 Trajectory of H point and L1 lumbar of dummy

Fig.12 Comparisons of lumbar spine maximum axial force

Fig.13 Comparison of dummy injury indicator parameters under different anti-submaring countermeasures

Fig.14 Dummy impact responses of sled impact test

Fig.15 Comparison of dummy injury indicator parameters under different sled impact tests


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