Significant trends in the vehicle industry are autonomous driving,
micromobility, electrification and the increased use of shared mobility
solutions. These new vehicle automation and mobility classes lead to a larger
number of occupant positions, interiors and load directions. As safety systems
interact with and protect occupants, it is essential to place the human, with
its variability and vulnerability, at the center of the design and operation of
these systems. Digital human body models (HBMs) can help meet these
requirements and are therefore increasingly being integrated into the
development of new vehicle models. This contribution provides an overview of
current HBMs and their applications in vehicle safety in different driving
modes. The authors briefly introduce the underlying mathematical methods and
present a selection of HBMs to the reader. An overview table with guideline
values for simulation times, common applications and available variants of the
models is provided. To provide insight into the broad application of HBMs, the
authors present three case studies in the field of vehicle safety: (i) in-crash
finite element simulations and injuries of riders on a motorcycle; (ii)
scenario-based assessment of the active pre-crash behavior of occupants with
the Madymo multibody HBM; (iii) prediction of human behavior in a take-over
scenario using the EMMA model