ISSN 1674-8484 , 2016 , 7 2 09/15

CN 11-5904/U J Automotive Safety and Energy, 2016, Vol. 7 No. 2 196 201

Conceptual Design of B-Pillar Load Path for Reducing Vehicle

Side Impact Intrusion
ZHOU Qing, PRAWIRA Darwin
State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, Department of Automotive Engineering, Tsinghua University,
Beijing 100084, China

Abstract: In vehicle side impact collisions, side structure intrusion must be controlled to reduce risks of injuries
and fatalities to occupants. This paper proposes adding a structural mechanism between B-pillar and seat frame
as an additional load path to distribute partial side impact load to seat frame and vehicle structure for reducing
side structure intrusion. Design requirements and a conceptual design are described. The added structure can
also serve as an armrest and is retractable in order not to affect ingress and egress of occupant. The device can
be automatically positioned by the door opening and closing. Requirements on ergonomics and anthropometric
have been considered in the design to ensure that the side impact load transfer function and the armrest
function can work properly in the main ranges of human anthropometry dimensions and seat positions.

Keywords: vehicle safety; side impact; intrusion; load path; ergonomics; armrest

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100084

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U 461.91 A DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8484.2016.02.009

/ Received 2015-10-08
/ First author / ZHOU Qing
1964E-mail: zhouqing@tsinghua.edu.cn
/ Second author PRAWIRA Darwin/ 1988 E-mail: hwc_08@qq.com
ZHOU Qing, et al: Conceptual Design of B-Pillar Load Path for Reducing Vehicle Side Impact Intrusion 197

Introduction
Side impact collisions are frequent and a predominantly severe
type of crash. In 2013, according to the Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety (IIHS) statistics show that in the US, traffic
accidents took 32,719 lives, and side impacts were counted for
25% of passenger vehicle occupant deaths [1]. In China side
impact is often most represented in all accidents [2]. Therefore
side impact safety has been a priority issue in traffic safety.
A-Pillar Horizontal
Beam Door-cross B-Pillar Side Panel
Side impacts require more attention due to less crash zone for Beam Rocker
energy absorption [3]. Furthermore the side structure of vehicle
body is comparatively weak in stiffness and strength compared
Figure 1 Side Structures of Passenger Car [8]
to that of the front and rear structures. Thus increasing the
strength of B-pillars plays an important role in reducing
intrusion. Reducing intrusion during lateral collision is a key Other improvements on the side structures are focused in
countermeasure to protect occupants from serious injuries [3]. redesigning and strengthening the beams that reinforce to
However, it often comes with mass penalty if adding doors, pillar sills, and roof rails surrounded the doors to obtain
reinforcements to the side structure or cost penalty if using high strength for the door structures.
extra-high-strength-steels. Most passenger cars have door interior padding for reducing
This paper presents a new type of mechanism that improves contact severity and absorbing energy when the door contacts
stiffness and strength of B-pillars with reasonable mass and occupant in side impact.
cost increase for reducing intrusion. The mechanism is adding
a load path from the mid-section of B-pillar to the seat frame. 1.2 Seat
Seats play an important role during lateral collisions. Seats are
1 Current Countermeasures against Side the factor that inuences the load transfer, which are strongly
Impact related to occupant injuries [9].
Since the 1970s, vehicle manufacturers, the US National If seat could be installed closer to the B-pillar, during side
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and many impact collision, it may distribute the impact load and reduce
others in the community have tried hard to reduce fatality impact force to the occupant and thus may reduce injuries [10].
risk in side impacts [4]. Main approaches for improvements
At present, most of seat designs for side impact protection
are focused on increasing the stiffness and the strength of
are focused on lowering contact severity when door contacts
side structures, and using energy absorbing interiors and side
occupant.
airbags.

1.3 Side Airbag

1.1 Side Structure
Due to the side structures are the first contact point during
lateral collision, improvements on the side structures are
the most important major [5]. The amount of intrusion,
acceleration, intrusion velocity, and deformation pattern of the
side structures inuence the safety performance in lateral
collisions [6].
As seen in Figure 1 typical side structures of a passenger
car include B-pillar, roof rail, rocker, doors, and side panel.
During lateral collision the side structures are struck by other
object and the side structures will provide resistance to reduce
intrusion [7].
Most of the B-pillars are designed with high strength steels for
reducing intrusion into passenger compartment [4]. Furthermore
door structures and door beams will also provide a large
resistance to reduce intrusion and absorb energy during lateral
collision [4]. Therefore many results and designs are focused
on upgrading the door structures to reduce the extent of door
intrusion during side impacts [6].
Side airbags are designed to protect occupants during lateral
collision [4]. Side airbags, emerged in the 1990s, usually include
torso airbags and head airbags.
Torso and head airbags are designed to provide energy
absorbing cushion between the occupants body and the vehicle
side structure during lateral collision.
2 Mechanism of B-Pillar Load Path
Design for side impact protection has been improved
significantly, resulting in reducing many injuries and fatalities
in lateral collisions [4]. However, the intrusion during side
impact is still an issue. In high-speed impact, the most
important issue to occupant injuries is the large magnitude of
intrusion into passenger compartment, which might directly
impact on the occupant [11]. Improvement to achieve higher
result in reducing intrusion is necessary.
In this paper, a new structural mechanism is added to improve
the load path and reduce intrusion during side impact. As
 198 J Automotive Safety and Energy
sketched in Figure 2, the new structures are added in the spaces
between the B-pillars and the seat frames at the middle height
of the B-pillar, respectively on the right side and the left side,
and a mid-structure is installed in between the two front seats.
This way, as illustrated in Figure 3, during side collision the
impact force can be transferred to the seat frame, and through
the seat frame to the other structures, for example, the oor and
even to the B-pillar on the other side through the mid-structure.
This new load path is in addition to the existing one, which is
the section of B-Pillar and the rocker that directly transfers side
impact force to the vehicle oor.
Side
Structure
Mid
Structure
Figure 2 Illustration of New Mechanism as Additional Load
Path Against Side Impact
ct
F impa
Fimpact
Figure 3 Illustration of Load Paths during Side Collision
2016, Vol. 7 No. 2
3 Requirements and Functional Design
As explained in the previous section, for reducing intrusion
during side impact, a structure is added to fill the gap between
B-pillar and the seat frame. This new mechanism design can
increase the strength to the B-pillar, and can also be used as an
additional load path to transfer the impact force to seat frames
and other structures.
The new mechanism design also has to meet the ergonomics
requirements. For example, it shall not incur any barrier to
ingress and egress and it shall function when occupant adjusts
the seat to any position. Therefore consideration in human
anthropometry is necessary.
3.1 Overview of Design
The design of the new mechanism is based on interior of
4-seater cars and designed with the requirements mentioned
above.
As shown in Figure 4, the structure for filling the gap is
designed according to the space in between B-pillar and the
seat frame, which is different from car to car. When the seat
position is adjusted in vehicle use, the relative location and
orientation between the B-pillar and the seat frame change.
Therefore, the added side structure has to be long enough in the
longitudinal direction of the vehicle to ensure load transferring
when seat is in any position. Given that it has to be long enough
and its location, it makes a good sense to also design it as an
armrest, which would improve comfort as well.
Mounting
Space
Arm-rest
length
in
X direction
Figure 4 Side Structure Installation Space (top view)
Another consideration is that this added structure, which is
also an armrest, shall meet ergonomics requirements and
shall let passengers to ingress and egress the vehicle without
difficulties. To achieve this purpose, the armrest is designed
as a telescopic device. With the telescopic mechanism, the
armrest will extend longer in the X direction when the door is
closed.
During side collision, the impact force is transferred from the
mid-section of B-Pillar to the seat frame through the added
side structure or armrest. The load would be further transferred
ZHOU Qing, et al: Conceptual Design of B-Pillar Load Path for Reducing Vehicle Side Impact Intrusion 199
1
to the vehicle oor through the seat frame. Then to add a
2
supplementary load path, as shown in Figure 5, a center console
box is installed between the two front seats, which could offer 3
a second load path for transferring partial of the impact load to
the other seat frame and then to the B-pillar on the other side.
This more distributed load path may release burden of seat
frame stiffness, which could lead to weight reduction.

Load 1
Path
2
Center
Console 7
Box 3 8
9
4
10

11
12
Figure 5 Mid-Structure Illustration (top view)
5

3.2 Telescopic Armrest 6

Figure 6 shows the 3D model of the design of the telescopic 1Door Latch; 2Latch Socket; 3Damper Spring;
armrest. It is a passive mechanism controlled by a spring. In 4Spring; 5Telescopic Armrest; 6Armrest Socket;
order to push the armrest back without bouncing, a damper is 7Long Bar Pin; 8Bar Holder Pin; 9Bar Holder;
also required. 10Damper pin; 11Long Bar; 12Armrest Pin.

As shown in Figure 7, the telescoping movements are triggered

Figure 6 Mechanism of Telescopic Armrest
by door opening and closing. When the door is closing, the
spring is compressed by the force from the door and the latch
is pushed inward, which pushes the armrest forward. When the
door is opening, the spring pushes the latch forward and the
armrest gets back inside the holding box.

The telescopic armrest is closer to passenger than the armrest

on the door interior, and so it offers improved comfort.

The main function of the device is for transferring impact load

to the seat frame in case of side impact. Serving as an armrest
Door
is just a supplementary function. In some vehicle environment, Closed
if having an armrest could affect comfort function, the Door
Closed
device may be designed to a smaller size and mounted at an
appropriate location such that it only has the load transferring
(a) Armrest Telescoping with Door Opening and Closing
function.

The spring stiffness needed to move the telescopic armrest FDoor

during door closing is designable. The stiffness must be F
Door
sufficient in order to move the mass of the telescopic armrest
while should not be too high to let the passenger feeling any
inconvenience when closing the door.

Another consideration for armrest mechanism is the installation Fspring

of the lap belt. The only potential trouble to buckling up is that
the lap belt must go below the armrest. When not in use, since
the seatbelt and the armrest are both located near the B-pillar, (b) Telescoping when Door Closed
 200 J Automotive Safety and Energy 2016, Vol. 7 No. 2

Center
Console
Box
Fspring
Arm-rest

(c) Telescoping when Door Opened Figure 8 Center Console Box

Figure 7 Armrest Telescoping

it would not be difficult to make a geometrical design to make

sure that the lap belt is always located below the armrest and
the shoulder belt portion is always above the armrest.

3.3 Center Console Box

As a load transfer device, the center console box, seen in
Figure 8, is to ensure the load transfer when the two front seats
are adjusted to any positions. The center console box may be
long in the X direction, and therefore, as illustrated in Figure Seat further forward

9, even the two front seats are not lined up in the most extreme
Figure 9 Load Transfer through Center Console Box when
case, the load transfer is not difficult to achieve.
Two Front Seats are not Lined up
3.4 Engineering Anthropometry
In this study, the process of concept design began with the
discussion on the size and type of vehicles. The concept of
telescopic armrest and center console box for load transfer in
side impact shall fit in most vehicle types and dimensions and
accommodate various sizes of occupants.

Figure 10 shows some basic dimensions of the people in seated

postures [12] and Table 1 shows the measurement in mm which H1

covered a number of populations from different countries. By

H2
accounting for these dimensions, the telescopic arm-rest design
and center console box can be mounted within optimal points.
H3
H4
Table 1 Static Anthropometric Measurements in Seating
Posture Measurement

Gender Human Size H1 / mm H2 / mm H3 / mm H4 / mm H1Sitting Height: from sitting surface to vertex

5th 855 548 184 184 H 2Sitting Shoulder Height: from sitting surface to acromion
H 3Sitting Elbow Height: from sitting surface to the underside
Male 50th 915 598 232 232
of elbow
95th 975 646 274 274 H 4Sitting Knee Height: from the floor to the upper surface of
5th 800 509 176 176 knee.

Female 50th 860 555 220 220

Figure 10 Static Anthropometric Measurements in Seating
95th 920 604 264 264 Posture [12]
ZHOU Qing, et al: Conceptual Design of B-Pillar Load Path for Reducing Vehicle Side Impact Intrusion
4 Conclusions
To reduce structural intrusion under side impact, a structural
mechanism is put forward to fill the gap between B-pillar and
seat frame as an additional load path to distribute partial side
impact load. Working together with a center console box, the
impact load from the struck side can be transferred to the
structure of the other side through the two front seats and the
added load transfer structures. The added structure is designed
as a telescopic armrest triggered by door opening and closing
in order not to affect ingress and egress of occupant. This new
load path for reducing structure intrusion under side impact
is in addition to the existing load distribution channels such
as B-Pillar and rocker and door beam. It may offer design
exibility in selecting materials of side structures for balancing
mass penalty and cost consideration.
The ergonomics and anthropometric requirements are
considered in the concept design to accommodate different
sizes of occupants and to ensure the load transfer function
when the two seats are adjusted to any positions.
A preliminary CAD model of the concept has been shown
in this paper. Design improvements are ongoing. Before the
concept can be implemented in vehicles, effects on reducing
structural intrusion and occupant protection against side
impact will be analyzed and assessed using finite element
modeling and experimental validation. Moreover, prototype is
necessary for evaluating the design and feasibility.
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