{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T07:39:57Z","timestamp":1791272397370,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,29]],"date-time":"2023-12-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1703808000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"postdoctoral research project of Guangzhou","award":["52175267"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["52175267"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["52175267"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["52175267"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Applied Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>High-tilt reclined seats are one of the most popular configurations in highly automated vehicles; however, current restraint systems cannot protect out-of-position occupants in this type of seat. To reduce the risk of injury to reclined occupants, this study proposes a swiveling seat driven by occupant inertia and rotated in the sagittal plane during impact. The effectiveness of the swiveling seat was evaluated based on kinematics and injury to a human biomechanical model in a frontal sled test. A simulation matrix was constructed to design and optimize various safety devices, including the belt, pre-tensioner, knee constraint, and rotation stiffness for the swiveling seat. The results showed that (1) submarining occurred when the reclined occupant was on a fixed seat with a normal three-point belt during impact; (2) a fixed seat with a dynamic locking tongue and passenger lap pretension prevented the submarining, but produced a high lumbar force of 5359 N, which was higher than the spine injury criterion; and (3) the proposed swiveling seat with a matched restraint system could prevent submarining and produce lumbar force of 1787 N. The results demonstrated that the swiveling seat has high potential for occupant protection in intelligent driving scenarios.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/app14010349","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,31]],"date-time":"2023-12-31T06:00:21Z","timestamp":1704002421000},"page":"349","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["The Effectiveness of Swiveling Seats in Protecting Reclined Occupants in Highly Autonomous Driving Environments during Frontal Crashes"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Fang","family":"Tong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"GAC Automotive Research & Development Center, Guangzhou 511434, China"},{"name":"School of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuchao","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GAC Automotive Research & Development Center, Guangzhou 511434, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qifei","family":"Jian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fengchong","family":"Lan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiqing","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"S66","article-title":"Shaping driver-vehicle interaction in autonomous vehicles\u2014How the new in-vehicle systems match the human needs","volume":"21","author":"Sun","year":"2021","journal-title":"Appl. Ergon."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"247","DOI":"10.1080\/15389588.2020.1738013","article-title":"Seating preferences in highly automated vehicles and occupant safety awareness: A national survey of Chinese perceptions","volume":"21","author":"Nie","year":"2020","journal-title":"Traffic Inj. Prev."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"582","DOI":"10.1080\/15389588.2018.1458306","article-title":"Crash safety concerns for out-of-position occupant postures: A look toward safety in highly automated vehicles","volume":"19","author":"Timothy","year":"2018","journal-title":"Traffic Inj. Prev."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"\u00d6stling, M., and Annika, L. (2019, January 22). Occupant activities and sitting positions in automated vehicles in China and Sweden. Proceedings of the Enhanced Safety Vehicles (ESV), Eindhoven, The Netherlands."},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"Jorl\u00f6v, S., Bohman, K., and Annika, L. (2017, January 13\u201315). Seating positions and activities in highly automated cars\u2014A qualitative study of future automated driving scenarios. Proceedings of the IRCOBI Conference, Antwerp, Belgium."},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"1189","article-title":"Seat belt and car seat in a reclined position-a dangerous combination","volume":"51","author":"Rehm","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Trauma"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106357","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aap.2021.106357","article-title":"Odds ratios for reclined seating positions in real-world crashes","volume":"161","author":"Schaefer","year":"2021","journal-title":"Accid. Anal. Prev."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"127","DOI":"10.12700\/APH.18.6.2021.6.7","article-title":"Numerical study of frontal collision effects on an occupant\u2019s safety, in autonomous vehicles, with non-standard seating configurations","volume":"18","author":"Talimian","year":"2021","journal-title":"Acta. Polytech. Hung."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106170","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aap.2021.106170","article-title":"The influence of car passengers\u2019 sitting postures in intersection crashes","volume":"157","author":"Leledakis","year":"2021","journal-title":"Accid. Anal. Prev."},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"Mroz, K., \u00d6stling, M., Richardson, R., Kerrigan, J., Forman, J., Gepner, B., and Nils, L.B.P. (2020, January 1). Effect of seat and seat belt characteristics on the lumbar spine and pelvis loading of the SAFER human body model in reclined postures. Proceedings of the IRCOBI Conference, Munich, Germany."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1080\/10255842.2019.1710496","article-title":"Occupant kinematics and biomechanics during frontal collision in autonomous vehicles-can rotable seat provides additional protection","volume":"23","author":"Wu","year":"2019","journal-title":"Comput. Methods Biomec."},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"Gepner, B.D., Draper, D., Mroz, K., Richardson, R., Ostling, M., Pipkorn, B., Forman, J.L., and Kerrigan, J.R. (2019, January 11\u201313). Comparison of human body models in frontal crashes with reclined seatback. Proceedings of the IRCOBI Conference, Florence, Italy."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Grebonval, C., Trosseille, X., Petit, P., Wang, X., and Beillas, P. (2021). Effects of seat pan and pelvis angles on the occupant response in a reclined position during a frontal crash. PLoS ONE, 16.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0257292"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S1","DOI":"10.1080\/15389588.2020.1791324","article-title":"Submarining sensitivity across varied seat configurations in autonomous driving system environment","volume":"21","author":"Rawska","year":"2022","journal-title":"Traffic Inj. Prev."},{"key":"ref_15","unstructured":"Richardson, R., Donlon, J.P., Chastain, K., Shaw, G., and Forman, J. (2019, January 22). Test methodology for evaluating the reclined seating environment with human surrogates. Proceedings of the Enhanced Safety Vehicles (ESV), Eindhoven, The Netherlands."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S66","DOI":"10.1080\/15389588.2020.1837365","article-title":"Thoracolumbar spine kinematics and injuries in frontal impacts with reclined occupants","volume":"21","author":"Richardson","year":"2020","journal-title":"Traffic Inj. Prev."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Matsushita, T., Saito, H., Sunnev\u00e5ng, C., \u00d6stling, M., Vishwanatha, A., and Tabhane, A. (2019, January 22). Evaluation of the protective performance of a novel restraint system for highly automated vehicles. Proceedings of the Enhanced Safety Vehicles (ESV), Eindhoven, The Netherlands.","DOI":"10.51202\/9783181023648-115"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S123","DOI":"10.1080\/15389588.2019.1655734","article-title":"Submarining sensitivity across varied anthropometry in an autonomous driving system environment","volume":"20","author":"Rawska","year":"2019","journal-title":"Traffic Inj. Prev."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5727","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-022-09842-1","article-title":"Occupant safety effectiveness of proactive safety seat in autonomous emergency braking","volume":"12","author":"Kang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_20","first-page":"81","article-title":"Predictors for traumatic brain injuries evaluated through accident reconstructions","volume":"51","author":"Kleiven","year":"2007","journal-title":"Stapp Car Crash J."},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"107","article-title":"On the development of the SIMon finite element head model","volume":"47","author":"Takhounts","year":"2003","journal-title":"Stapp Car Crash J."},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"303","article-title":"A note on the head injury criterion (HIC) as a predictor of the risk of skull fracture","volume":"37","author":"Hertz","year":"1993","journal-title":"Publ. Assoc. Adv. Automot. Med."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"254","DOI":"10.1227\/00006123-198309000-00007","article-title":"Compression injuries of the cervical spine: A biomechanical analysis","volume":"13","author":"Maiman","year":"1983","journal-title":"Neurosurgery"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"82","DOI":"10.2106\/00004623-197658010-00015","article-title":"Aging of bone tissue: Mechanical properties","volume":"58","author":"Burstein","year":"1976","journal-title":"J. Bone Jt."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1193","DOI":"10.2106\/00004623-199308000-00009","article-title":"Age-related changes in the tensile properties of cortical bone","volume":"75","author":"McCalden","year":"1993","journal-title":"J. Bone Jt."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"415","DOI":"10.1080\/13588265.2016.1275430","article-title":"Mechanisms of using knee bolster to control kinematical motion of occupant in reclined posture for lowering injury risk","volume":"22","author":"Ji","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int. J. Crashworthiness"},{"key":"ref_27","first-page":"614","article-title":"The effect of reclined seats on mortality in motor vehicle collisions","volume":"64","author":"Dissanaike","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Trauma"},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"Boyle, K.J., Reed, M.P., Zaseck, L.W., and Hu, J. (2019, January 11\u201313). A human modelling study on occupant kinematics in highly reclined seats during frontal crashes. Proceedings of the IRCOBI Conference, Florence, Italy."},{"key":"ref_29","first-page":"83","article-title":"Kinematic and injury response of reclined PMHS in frontal impact","volume":"64","author":"Richardson","year":"2020","journal-title":"Stapp Car Crash J."},{"key":"ref_30","unstructured":"\u00d6sth, J., Bohman, K., and Jakobsson, L. (2020, January 1). Evaluation of kinematics and restraint interaction when repositioning a driver from a reclined to an upright position prior to frontal impact using active human body model simulations. Proceedings of the IRCOBI Conference, Munich, Germany."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S38","DOI":"10.1080\/15389588.2019.1630733","article-title":"Posture and belt fit in reclined passenger seats","volume":"20","author":"Reed","year":"2019","journal-title":"Traffic Inj. Prev."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Thorbole, C.K. (2015, January 13\u201319). Dangers of seatback reclined in a moving vehicle how seatback recline increases the injury severity and shifts injury pattern. Proceedings of the IMECE Conference, Houston, TX, USA.","DOI":"10.1115\/IMECE2015-51809"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"26","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsr.2021.08.001","article-title":"Investigation of occupant kinematics and injury risk in a reclined and rearward-facing seat under various frontal crash velocities","volume":"79","author":"Ngo","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Saf. Res."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"Jin, X., Hou, H., Shen, M., Wu, H., and Yang, K.H. (2018, January 12\u201314). Occupant kinematics and biomechanics with rotatable seat in autonomous vehicle collision\u2014A preliminary concept and strategy. Proceedings of the IRCOBI Conference, Athens, Greece."}],"container-title":["Applied Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-3417\/14\/1\/349\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T21:44:34Z","timestamp":1760132674000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-3417\/14\/1\/349"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,29]]},"references-count":34,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,1]]}},"alternative-id":["app14010349"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/app14010349","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-3417"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-3417","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,29]]}}}