Simulation of Airbag Deployment Using the Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian Method in Abaqus/Explicit

The uniform pressure method (UPM) approach to simulat-ing airbag deployment has been widely used in the auto-mobile safety industry. The defining assumption of UPM, specifically that pressure in the airbag is spatially uniform during inflation, makes the approach most applicable for „in-position‟ (IP) analyses with fully inflated airbags. In contrast, an analysis may be characterized as „out-of-position‟ (OoP) if the occupant interacts with the airbag before it is fully deployed. Prior to complete inflation, large spatial pressure gradients can exist in the airbag, violating the assumptions of the UPM approach. The advancement of airbag regulations and technology necessitates the consideration of OoP scenarios. An ac-curate analysis thus requires a tool capable of simulating the flow of gas during the inflation process. Abaqus/Explicit offers a sophisticated coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) technique that can be used to simulate dynamic gas flow in the airbag. The flow-based CEL method offers a more realistic prediction of airbag shape and pressure distribution during all stages of deployment.