Preliminary Investigation of Driver Head Dynamics During Impact of a Small Car with a High-Containment Safety Barrier

As a consequence of the impact of a small car with a high-containment safety barrier, the driver’s head can break the side window and directly strike the barrier. This potentially fatal occurrence is not considered by the European norms for safety barrier certification. In this paper, a method is introduced to generate the limit surface of the positions occupied by the driver’s head during the impact of a small car with a safety barrier. Simulations of TB11 tests were performed and the results used to create the envelope of the driver’s head positions outside the car compartment. The limit surface obtained from the envelope is shown to be a useful tool in the design of safe high-containment barriers.