A method is disclosed for designing an energy-absorbing impact zone for a vehicle
interior, including acquiring test data representative of an occupant, determining
a force versus deflection curve for the vehicle impact zone, analyzing the force
versus deflection curve, and utilizing the analysis to adjust the stiffness of
the energy-absorbing impact zone and to shape the force versus deflection curve
so that a constant area under the force versus deflection curve has the minimum
deflection possible without exceeding a certain force limit and a certain head
impact criterion.
