SIMULATION OF PEDESTRIAN THROW DISTANCE IN THE SOFTWARE PACKAGE PC-CRASH - COMPARISON WITH EXPERIMENT AND THEORY

Abstract

Pedestrians are the most vulnerable group of road users, especially because of their bodily insecurity. The increased number of traffic accidents involving pedestrians is the result of the increase in vehicle speed. Pedestrians account for about 24% of all seriously injured people in traffic, and when it comes to minor injuries, pedestrians account for about 11%. The collision of vehicles and pedestrians leaves traces on both the vehicle and the pedestrians in the form of structural damage and in the form of injuries to the body. In order to determine the circumstances under which the accident occurred, it is necessary to analyse the both participants (the vehicle and the pedestrian). Due to the difference in mass between vehicles and pedestrians, as a result of an accident, pedestrian injuries are always more significant. In order to analyse the distance of pedestrian throw using the PC Crash, pedestrian modelling with body dimensions was performed, in the Multibody module. It is possible to get accurate information about the characteristics of the vehicle and the speed of the vehicle within the software database. Seven different vehicle speeds were taken into account: 38.46 km/h, 39.27 km/h, 43.61 km/h, 34.12 km/h, 55.04 km/h, 61.15 km/h and 64.86 km/h, while the weight of the pedestrian was 67 kg and the height was 1.78 m. The total weight of the vehicle was 1872 kg. Experimental data were taken from literature for the purpose of comparison with simulation data.