Virtual Testing for Enhanced Rear Impact Safety

Research Project, 2026

Neck injuries are the most common disabling injury, accounting for more than half of all injuries leading to long-term or
permanent medical impairment, with female occupants disproportionately affected. Current safety evaluations focus on a
single anthropometry, making it challenging to ensure that seat protection serves everyone equally well. Virtual testing offers
new opportunities to assess seat protection across multiple anthropometries and impact conditions through cost-effective
finite element simulations.
This project will use the recently finalized open source Finite Element Seat Evaluation Tools (FE-SETs) to develop injury
thresholds using Folksam’s unique crash database that includes recorded crash pulses and injury outcomes. This will be
achieved through open-source seat model available from Project VIRTUAL, which will be further validated using recent sled
tests of physical SET 50F and 50M. Folksam rear-impact crashes will then be reconstructed using this validated seat model
and FE-SETs to develop injury thresholds for whiplash associated disorders.
The open availability of virtual tools, and their associated injury thresholds, will help to accelerate the adoption of equitable
seat evaluation in regulatory and consumer testing which can be expected to reduce societal burden of costs associated
with long-term impairment.