Predicting vehicle crashworthiness: Validation of computer models for functional and hierarchical data

Journal Article (Journal Article)

The CRASH computer model simulates the effect of a vehicle colliding against different barrier types. If it accurately represents real vehicle crashworthiness, the computer model can be of great value in various aspects of vehicle design, such as the setting of timing of air bag releases. The goal of this study is to address the problem of validating the computer model for such design goals, based on utilizing computer model runs and experimental data from real crashes. This task is complicated by the fact that (i) the output of this model consists of smooth functional data, and (ii) certain types of collision have very limited data. We address problem (i) by extending existing Gaussian process-based methodology developed for models that produce real-valued output, and resort to Bayesian hierarchical modeling to attack problem (ii). Additionally, we show how to formally test if the computer model reproduces reality. Supplemental materials for the article are available online. © 2009 American Statistical Association.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Bayarri, MJ; Berger, JO; Kennedy, MC; Kottas, A; Paulo, R; Sacks, J; Cafeo, JA; Lin, CH; Tu, J

Published Date

  • October 14, 2009

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 104 / 487

Start / End Page

  • 929 - 943

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0162-1459

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1198/jasa.2009.ap06623

Citation Source

  • Scopus