Objective
Introduction Increasing number of wheelchair users and recognition of their needs has led to changes in architecture and transportation allowing disabled people to take part in social activities. It also increased required safety level of a transported wheelchair user. Although the problem of disabled people safety has been mentioned in late seventies, the suitable safety guidelines and testing procedures for Wheelchairs Tie downs and Occupants Restraint Systems (WTORS) have not been developed and published until end of nineties (SAE J2249 in 1996 and ISO 10542 in 2000). However, as most of WTORS are after-market products, some of designs are different from solutions proposed in the regulations. In current work different WTORS' design variations have been compared. The main target was to look into interaction between disabled person, wheelchair and WTORS, and to assess protection level offered by different designs. As a real life testing procedure is very costly and beyond the reach of a student's term project, a MADYMO computer simulation was used instead. A design model consisting of a wheelchair and HYBRID II multi body models and a FEM model of a pelvic and shoulder belt in different configurations. Description of conducted simulations In the course of work several different cases has been studied. To allow comparison all were simulated in the same conditions, it is the same acceleration pulse (20g mid severity pulse which is equal to a medium-size car crashing a rigid barrier at a speed of about 50 km/h) and the same wheelchair wheels to floor contact. In each simulation shear force in belts, HIC, 3ms-thorax acceleration and head displacement were measured. Cases one to four considered a front facing WTORS design with the pelvic belt or a full three- point belt system. The main goal was to check wheelchair tie down type influence on kinematics and differences when the pelvic or the three-point belt is used.
Topic(s)
Data not availableCall for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
ACM - Preparatory, accompanying and support measuresCoordinator
02 956 Warszawa
Poland