Abstract
In a side collision involving two vehicles, approximately 30％ of the passengers suffer from injuries. Generally, the occupant on the side near the collision （near-side occupant） in a standard car is more seriously injured than the occupant on the side far from the collision （far-side occupant） due to buckling of the interior. Hence, a general crash test evaluates only the near-side occupant with one person in the car. However, in side collisions involving K-cars, head injury is more likely to be experienced by the far-side occupant than the near-side occupant under the condition of two persons in the car. The purpose of this study is to determine the injury mechanism of a K-car using CAE analysis and to confirm the effect on the head and chest injuries of the far-side occupant by changing the placement of the occupant or the weight of the car. In a side collision involving a K-car, head injury experienced by the far-side occupant is due to impact of the head of the far-side occupant and the shoulder of near-side occupant. Chest injury of the far-side occupant is strongly influenced by the chest impact between two occupants. Head Performance Criterion （HPC） of the far-side occupant was confirmed to be higher than that of near-side occupant. When the two seats are separated, the chance of serious head injury increases as the distance between the head of the far-side occupant and the shoulder of the near-side occupant increases. Also, conditions for chest injury increases due to increased acceleration of the upper body. When a collision vehicle is heavy, acceleration of the vehicle and the occupants decreases. As a result, head and chest injury of the far-side occupant decreases.
