Three-Point Safety Polymeric Belt Webbing versus Four-Point Belt for a Race Car in Frontal Crashes

Abstract

Polyester is currently the main material used for the manufacture of safety belts used in car transport for the protection of passengers and the driver. The seat belt is the main passive safety element used in vehicle engineering. In this work, the behavior of two safety belts, one with three-point fastening and the other with four-point fastening, which equip the seat of a racing car used in Formula Student for use in a frontal impact with a vertical wall. A model with finite elements is used to describe the entire car–driver shock-absorber assembly. The von Mises stresses calculated for both cases under consideration are below the tensile strength. The tensions arising in the belt and the accelerations required at various points of the driver’s body are determined by both the properties of the utilized polyester and the chosen construction variant. The obtained results justify the use of the three-point and four-point belt in the cases of both common and race cars.