Modelling and simulation of helicopter accidents for occupant survivability assessment

Accurate assessment of survivability in a dynamic crash environment, and possible measures to improve survivability usually require lengthy, detailed multi-body structural analysis, and a detailed vehicle structural model. However, to be effective in a post-accident investigation, it is very important that any analysis tools are user-friendly, able to provide rapid answers, and not reliant on detailed structural models. This paper explores the development of a simple model for rapid simulation of the motion of a crashing structure and occupants, as a step towards the development of a tool that would be useful in accident analysis. Firstly a simple, generic computer model was developed through the use of the multi-body dynamics/finite element program MADYMO. A preliminary parametric analysis was carried out to examine the sensitivity of total simulation runtime against global model variables such as finite element mesh size, dynamic complexity, contact definitions and material choice.