Finite Element Analysis of seat belt clip

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UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX |
 FINIT ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF SEAT BELT CLIP

Contents
1.0: Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1: Geometry definition and conditions of the model ...................................................................... 1
2.0: Methodology.................................................................................................................................... 3
3.0: Discussion and result ....................................................................................................................... 4
4.0: Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 14
5.0: References ..................................................................................................................................... 15

Figure 1 Clip dimension........................................................................................................................... 1

Figure 2 failure demonstration ............................................................................................................... 3
Figure 3 Seat belt system ........................................................................................................................ 4
Figure 4 Resultant force in the safety belt system ................................................................................. 5
Figure 5 Discretization of the clip mesh size 6 ........................................................................................ 6
Figure 6 FEA of the clip Distribution and values of Stress & Deformation ............................................. 7
Figure 7 Discretization of the clip (Mesh size 5) ..................................................................................... 8
Figure 8 Mesh size 4 and stress value ..................................................................................................... 9
Figure 9 stress distribution for mesh 4 ................................................................................................. 10
Figure 10 stress distribution for mesh 3 ............................................................................................... 11
Figure 11 Mesh graph ........................................................................................................................... 12
Figure 12 optimised design ................................................................................................................... 13

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1.0: Introduction

Nowadays, modern vehicles have a seat belt system to protect passenger from impacts, the
seat belt buckle clip is shown in figure 1. However, part of the belt is attached to a narrow
slot and the tongue is engages with the buckle, then the slot in the tongue engaging with
the plunger in the buckle. The seat belt fabric is 50 mm wide and the belt is considered to
carry a load produced by an 80kg human body under car deceleration of 8.5G
(1G=9.81m/sec2). For analysis purposes it may be assumed that the tension in the belt is
constant along the belt width and length. The clip is manufactured from stainless steel and it
have Young’s modulus of 210GPa and Poisson ratio of 0.3. The material plasticity properties
are described by the isotropic hardening plasticity law with the yield strength stress 280MPa
and the hardening tangent modulus 2.5GPa. In this paper the seat belt tongue part is
analysed by 2D plane stress analysis, proposed structures are shown in the figure below

Figure 1 Clip dimension

1.1: Geometry definition and conditions of the model

There are many options for creating a geometrical model of the seat belt buckle, however it
was completed using a 2D model and the thickness was specified. After creating the model,
other options are specified in the modelling process, such as applying the elastic and plastic
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model condition for the seat belt buckle also defining a failure criterion model. The
thickness of the seat belt buckle is 2.4mm, the left side is fixed and the right side will be
subject to a load of an 80kg which produced by the human body under car deceleration of
8.5g.

The following table shows information on the seat belt clip

Characteristic Magnitude of the parameter

Modulus of elasticity 210 GPa
Passion ratio 0.3
Yield strength 280 MPa
Tangent modulus 2.5 GPa
The table below represent the drawing coordinates of the seat belt clip

No X Y Z
1 0 0 0
2 0 0.003 0
3 0.044 0.003 0
4 0.005 0.055 0
5 0.008 0.055 0
6 0.008 -0.025 0
7 0.055 -0.025 0
8 0.044 0 0
9 0.006 0.007 0
10 0.006 0.023 0
11 0.016 0.023 0
12 0.016 0.007 0
13 0.066 0.043 0
14 0.074 0.043 0
15 0.074 -0.013 0
16 0.066 -0.013 0

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2.0: Methodology

Ansys version 18.2 finite element, was selected as the basic platform for this study. Ansys
has a unique procedure for attaining solutions through the entire behavioural regime of the
seat belt buckle. All subsequent finite element models were developed using Ansys. The
next step was to demonstrate how the seat belt clip is modelled within Ansys and to
validate the results predicted by Ansys software and comparing the given design with the
optimised design. Nevertheless, the red arrow indicted where the failure occurs in the seat
belt buckle, the effectiveness of Ansys in analysing high stresses in the seat belt buckle also
established a basis for its use in modelling a complete buckle.

Figure 2 failure demonstration

A complete analysis using Ansys requires a description of the material, the model
configuration, boundary conditions, and loading. For service-load simulations, at least two
material constants are required to characterise the linear elastic behaviour of the material:
Young’s modulus (E), Poisson’s ratio (ν), yield strength and the hardening tangent modulus.
Therefore, stresses at various points through the thickness of the element can also be
provided, which is particularly important for this study. Solid elements were used in this

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study to simulate the seat belt buckle. The user can choose the type of solid element and
select the shape of the cross section.

3.0: Discussion and result

The safety belt buckle device, Figure 3b, is designed to coupling the seat belt that fixes to
seat the passenger of the vehicle in order to limit its movement during a shock, thus, during
a strong deceleration, the passenger of a vehicle in motion is not projected in the moving
direction as result of the accumulated kinetic energy. The static analysis of the cable– guide
subassembly of a pre-tensioned Seat Belt System, presented in Figure 3c and detailed in
Figure 4, followed by the solving of the equations equilibrium, give as result the pressure in
the belt system, P= 27.795N.

a b c

Figure 3 Seat belt system

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The applied load, which considered to be the total force was calculated as follow:
𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎
𝐹 = 80 × 8.5 × 9.81 = 6670.8𝑁
The applied force on the clip is calculated as shown below
𝐹 6670.8 𝑁
∴ = = 3335.4
2 2
The pressure on the clip is calculated as follow
𝐹 3335.4
𝑃= = = 27.795 𝑀𝑃𝑎
𝐴 0.05 × 0.0024

Figure 4 Resultant force in the safety belt system

The FE analyses were performed using solid elements 8 node 183 for mesh generation. This
type of elements was originally chosen due to geometrical feature of the model, possible
appearance of large strains and due to that some solid elements do not have enough
accuracy. Von Mises stress theory and Maximum Principle tension theory were chosen as a
stress failure criterion to Represent the results. The decision to use these two failure criteria
is taken to choose, the most restrictive one and perform conservative design

The fact that cracking is an important aspect of the general behaviour predicates
investigating the concept of stress. Experimenting with this parameter is an important part
of model verification. In the figure 5, it shows that the mesh that applied on this component

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is size 6, which divided the whole component into number of elements and the applied load
of 3335.4 N is distributed uniformly on the clip. However, following with figure 6 which
represent the distribution and values of stress at failure.

Figure 5 Discretization of the clip mesh size 6

Figure 6, demonstrate the distribution of stress on the clip, the belt buckle assembly must
have the capacity to transmit the forces being put on the system. In case one of its

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component parts, the latch plate, cannot tolerate the load that was derived by the motion
of an occupant during an impact, the safety belt system cannot play the role of a restraining
system anymore. Therefore, the latch plates of the seat belts, although have different
designs being manufactured by different companies, are an important element of the
system. The importance of this element lies in its own security and is related to assure the
functional role of the safety belts systems. The analysed latch plate is made of stainless
steel, the properties of the material are given which is having Young’s modulus of 210GPa,
Poisson ratio of 0.3. The material plasticity properties are described by the isotropic
hardening plasticity law with the yield strength stress 280 MPa and the hardening tangent
modulus 2.5GPa.

Figure 6 FEA of the clip Distribution and values of Stress & Deformation

Further meshing is applied on the clip to recognise different load distribution on the clip,
thus mesh size 6 and 5 shows that high stress that lead to failure on the top of the slot.
Plastic behaviour of materials occurs beyond the yield point, causing deformation of the

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material. Often ductile materials such as steel exhibit hardening in which stiffness increases
with increased strain beyond the yield point. The strains associated with deformation are
called plastic strains. The test specimen data provide the stress and strain of a material as
the original cross-sectional area and length are considered to calculate the stress and strain
instead of using the actual cross-sectional area and length at the instance of measuring load.

Figure 7 Discretization of the clip (Mesh size 5)

For ductile materials such as steel, after yielding, the material can carry load and the stress
strain curve becomes flatter until ultimate tensile load is reached. Finally, necking occurs in
a material before it yields considerably and fails during which time the original length and
cross-sectional area change dramatically.

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The simulated FE analysis of the stress distribution in the clip is shown in figure 9 and 10 ,
where the meshing size was reduced to size 4 and 3 respectively. The simulation result
indicated that the maximum stress of 817e9 and 784e9, which abending stress is
experienced by the large slot. However, this maximum stress value obtained is higher than the
yield strength of the stainless steel.

Figure 8 Mesh size 4 and stress value

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Figure 9 stress distribution for mesh 4

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Figure 10 stress distribution for mesh 3

Several simulations were performed in order to achieve reliable results. Figure 5,6,7,8,9 and
Figure 10 show the results of the final simulation where the area of interest is requiring
some modification.However, the mesh was reduced to size 2 and 1, both they show better
result than mesh size 4 and 3. Especially when producing the graph on excel, they show that
mesh 2 and 1 are overlapping which means that for the clip is better to use mesh size 2 or 1.
Therefore, they were used after optimising the design.

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Figure 11 Mesh graph

Then, the clip was redesigned, the changes occurred in changing the slots location as well as
the fillet radii. The result of those changes was affective but failure will occur if the vehicle is
subjected to an accident. This failure happens since the clip is one use therefore the clip will
do its job but it only can be used once. As it can be seen in figure 12 failure will only occur
on the sides of the clip which I justified this point by the clip can be only used once.

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Figure 12 optimised design

The primary goals were to perform a design optimisation on the clip which will withstand
the maximum yield strength of the material. As well as to perform a preliminary finite
element analysis in order to verify the design. The final results are focused in modify the clip
to reduce the stresses on the clip. After the modification the maximum stress in pull
direction is about 307e9 which occurs at the corner of the large slot of the clip. The entire FE
simulation results for the stress distribution and resultant displacement variation in the seat
belt clip slots gave an insight to location experiencing maximum stress and maximum
displacement. This location on the clip is a potential position where structural failure may
likely begin when the clip is put to use. However, in beginning the maximum stress value
was far higher than the yield strength of the selected material.

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4.0: Conclusion

the Finite Element Analysis of the seat belt clip was carried out to verify the safety of the car
occupants in impact conditions. The proper design of a seat belt clip is essential for the
situation of a frontal impact, because if the clip cannot bear the load derived by an occupant
motion during a frontal collision, the clip cannot serve as functional restraint system. The
effectiveness of the component part of the safety belt assembly. The belt clip was analysed
using the Ansys software, based on the Finite Element Method, and the results that we
obtained reveal the correct design conception of the examined elements. Under horizontal
loads of 27.975 MPa on the large slot, the simulation result indicated that a maximum stress
of 307e9 was reached in the large slot, which is higher than the material yield strength. It
arrived at this result after the clip was optimised, which lower stress than the initial design
concept. Because, in the first design concept the stress values were between 737e9 to
823e9 even when applying different mesh size. Therefore, the optimised design is more
realistic since the clip will only fracture from the sides but it will not break completely. That
will make it valid for one time use and it cannot be reused again.

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5.0: References

• Ashby, M. F. (2009) Materials and the environment: Eco-Informed material choice.

• Callister, W. D. (2004) Fundamentals of materials science and engineering: An inte-

grated approach. 2nd edn. United States: John Wiley and Sons (WIE).

• Groover, M. (2010). Fundamentals of modern manufacturing. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley

& Sons.

• Koutromanos, I., McClure, J. and Roy, C. (n.d.). Fundamentals of finite element analy-
sis.

• Laursen, T. (2010). Computational Contact and Impact Mechanics. Berlin: Springer.

• Olaf Steinbach. (2010). Advanced Finite Element Methods and Applications. Springer
Berlin Heidelberg.

• Wang, Z. (2011). Adaptive high-order methods in computational fluid dynamics. Sin-

gapore: World Scientific.

• Zienkiewicz, O. and Taylor, R. (n.d.). The Finite Element Method Set :.

• Zienkiewicz, O., Taylor, R. and Zhu, J. (2013). Finite element method. Amsterdam:
Butterworth-Heinemann.

• Zingoni, A. (2013). Research and applications in structural engineering, mechanics

and computation. Boca Raton: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group.

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