An anatomically detailed age-specific finite element model of the thoracic region of an average size Japanese elderly male was developed. The model was validated against original series of experimental data both at component and at assembled-structural level. With the validated model, a simulation based age-dependent parametric study was conducted. The results show that rib cortical bone and muscle softening due to ageing affect the structural thoracic response under controlled belt loading conditions. The thoracic model will be implemented into a full scale elderly model and is intended to support the deployment of elderly-specific safety improvement strategies.

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In recent years, narrow track vehicles have gained considerable interest due to the compactness and its future potential. However, the vehicles are likely to have low stability against overturning especially during hard cornering. In this work, a new design concept named “Active Wheelbase” was proposed to improve the vehicle stability during cornering. A tricycle model was developed to analyze the effects of the active wheelbase design. Motion equations of the model were derived to investigate the dynamics characteristics of the vehicle. Multibody model was built in order to conduct simulations to verify the stability improvement by the active wheelbase design.

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