Case Study: Autoliv reduces airbag development time with MSC.Dytran

Autoliv Uses MSC.Dytran ® for Simulation of Innovative Side-Curtain Airbag

Autoliv, the world’s largest manufacturer of automotive safety equipment, needed a better way to design and evaluate innovative side-curtain airbag systems under extremely fast crash conditions. To address this challenge, Autoliv used MSC Software’s MSC.Dytran simulation software to model airbag inflation, gas flow, enclosure impact stiffness, and out-of-position occupant scenarios.

With MSC.Dytran, MSC Software helped Autoliv analyze design variations, optimize folds and component behavior, and pinpoint key variables affecting fabric stress, housing deformation, and dummy injury values. The result was reduced reliance on physical prototypes, faster development, and lower overall testing effort, while improving the ability to validate airbag performance in crashes that can last as little as 50 milliseconds.

Autoliv

Jesse Crookston

Product Analyst