CRASHWORTHINESS OF ISOFIX AND LATCH CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEMS IN TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRCRAFT

摘要

This paper describes progress in a researchrnproject which aims to analyse therncrashworthiness of automotive child restraints inrna typical transport category aircraft seatingrnconfiguration using a numerical dynamicrnanalysis. The dynamic behaviour of childrnrestraints and especially their effect on thernsafety of other passengers is not well known.rnThe advent of new child restraint installationrnmethods has elevated the need for a fast andrnreliable tool to enable the assessment of therncrashworthiness of seating configurationsrninvolving child restraints. The numerical modelrnis based on the configurations used in physicalrndynamic tests conducted by the Civil AviationrnSafety Authority (CASA) in Australia. Thernoverall objectives are to:rn1. Develop validated numerical models of thernaircraft seat and relevant child restraints.rn2. Use the models to conduct a parametricrncrashworthiness analysis of various seatingrnconfigurations.rn3. Report on the findings of this research in arnform suitable for supporting development ofrnnew regulator and advisory material as wellrnas input to Standards Australia.rnEfforts in the first phase of the project havernfocused on the creation of a validated model ofrnthe same aircraft seating arrangement used byrnCASA in physical tests. This involved thernassessment of each component of the seatrnstructure in terms of both its influence on therndynamic performance of the structure as wholernand also its effect on the dynamic behaviour ofrnthe seat occupant. Relevant seat componentsrnwere then digitised and incorporated into a simplified seat assembly model. Relevantrnmaterial properties were found by means ofrnlaboratory testing.