Study on the influence of passenger car front shape on pedestrian thorax injury based on the FASS database

Abstract Thorax injury is one of the main injuries during pedestrian impacts, and vehicle collision plays an important role in increasing the risk of pedestrian thorax injury. It is necessary to conduct in-depth research on the influence of vehicle front structural parameters on thorax injury in pedestrian accidents. Accident statistical analysis is conducted based on 452 cases from the future mobile traffic accident scenario study (FASS) database. There are differences in the severity of thorax injuries caused by different types of vehicles. Then, a typical pedestrian thorax injury accident in the FASS database is simulated, and the effectiveness of the model is verified. Finally, 149 simulations are conducted based on the model, and the relationship between the front structural parameters and pedestrian kinematic response and thorax injury values is analyzed using multiple linear regression methods. The significant probability p of the influence of the bonnet angle (BA), bonnet length (BL), bonnet leading edge height (BLEH), and bumper bottom height (BBH) on pedestrian thorax injuries are as follows: 0.000, 0.953, 0.000, and 0.797, respectively. This indicates that BA and BLEH have significant influences on thorax injuries, while BBH and BL have little influence. And when the BLEH and BA values increase, the thorax acceleration value tends to increase.