SEMINAR ON: CRASH TESTING OF CARS

RAJARAJESWARI COLLEGE OF
ENGINEERING
GUIDE:
Asst Prof. ANAND A
ARJUN B A
1RR09ME007
Presented by
Every year, over 80,000 people die on Indian roads; every five road
accidents leave one dead.
Driving a car isn't a big deal, all that matters is how safer one drives
it.
In recent years, cars have got much safer, because a thorough
crash-testing program is critical for the car makers.
Frontal collisions, offset collisions, cars hitting another vehicle or
object in the traffic environment they are all tested using cars of
different sizes.
Each vehicle's overall evaluation is based on three aspects of
performance:
1. Measurements of unwanted force into the occupant compartment.
2. Injury measures from a dummy positioned in the driver seat.
3. Analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system
controls dummy movement during the test.

Highly advanced crash simulator that could best simulate the real road
conditions, and capture the details required for crash analysis.
Lighting system, which can provide up to 750,000 watts of
illumination without glare to film tests in slow motion. The resulting
pictures must be clear and dramatic.
Supercomputers that crash tests non-existing cars.
The basic infrastructure, any crash
testing facility would need are:
A crash laboratory with an
advanced high-tech crash
barrier.
An outdoor test track that
accommodates research for
different weather conditions.
Equipment for advanced
component testing.


The dummy's job is to
simulate a human being
during a crash, while
collecting data that would
not be possible to collect
from a human occupant.
A dummy is built from
materials that mimic the
physiology of the human
body.
For example, it has a spine
made from alternating
layers of metal discs and
rubber pads.

Euro SID II
Dummies provide vital clues to what happens in a crash.
Before the crash-test dummies are placed in the vehicle, researchers apply
different colors of paint to the parts of the dummies' bodies most likely to hit
during a crash.
The paint marks in the car will indicate what part of the body hit what part
of the vehicle inside the cabin.
This information helps researchers develop improvements to prevent that
type of injury in future crashes.

PARTS

Head
The head is made of aluminum and covered in rubber 'flesh'. Inside, three
accelerometers are set at right angles, each providing data on the forces and
accelerations to which the brain would be subjected in a crash.

Neck
Features measuring devices to detect the bending ,shear and tension
forces on the neck as the head is thrown forwards and backwards during the
impact.

Arm
Neither carries any instrumentation. In a crash test, the arms fly
around in an uncontrolled way, and although serious injuries are
uncommon, it is difficult to provide worthwhile protection against them.

Chest (front impact)
Steel ribs are fitted for Hybrid III with movement sensors that records
deflection of the rib cage in the frontal impact. Injuries result if forces
exerted on the chest, such as from the seat belt are too great.

Chest (side impact)
The side-impact dummy, Euro SID II, has a different chest from the
others and three ribs are instrumented with movement sensors to record
compression of the chest and the velocity of this compression.

Abdomen
Euro SID II is equipped with sensors to record forces likely to cause
abdominal injury.

Pelvis
Euro Sid II consists of instruments fitted in its pelvic girdle. They
record lateral forces that result in fractures and hip-joint dislocation.


Surviving a crash is all about kinetic energy.
When the body of occupant is moving, it has a
certain amount of kinetic energy.
After the crash, when it comes to a complete
stop, it will have zero kinetic energy.
To minimize risk of injury, removing the kinetic
energy as slowly and evenly as possible is done
by some of the following safety systems in the
car: -
1. As soon as car hits the barrier the seatbelt can
then absorb some of your energy before the
airbag deploys.
2. Milliseconds later as the driver moves forward
towards the airbag, the force in the seatbelt
holding him back would start to hurt him, so
the force limiters make sure that the force in
the seatbelts doesn't get too high.
3. Next, the airbag deploys and absorbs some
more of your forward motion while protecting
you from hitting anything hard.

FRONTAL CRASH TEST
The kinetic energy involved in the frontal crash test
depends on the speed and weight of the test vehicle.
Crashing the full width of a vehicle into a rigid barrier
maximizes energy absorption so that the integrity of
the occupant compartment can be maintained well in
all; but not in very high-speed crashes.

At 35 mph (56 kph), the
car runs straight into a
solid concrete barrier.
This is equivalent to a car
moving at 35 mph hitting
another car of comparable
weight moving at 35 mph.
In offset tests, only one side of a vehicle's
front end, not the full width, hits the barrier so
that a smaller area of the structure, about 40%
of the width of the front of the vehicle on the
driver's side must manage the crash energy.
In the offset crash test the vehicle travels at
40mph (64kph) and collides with a crushable
aluminum barrier, which makes the forces in
the test similar to those involved in a frontal
offset crash between two vehicles of the same
weight.
The structure and design of the vehicle is
tested from the resulting crash forces,
particularly on the driver's side.
In the side test a sled (of about
1,368-kg) with a deformable
"bumper" runs into the side of the
test vehicle at around 31 mph.
The test simulates a car that is
crossing an intersection being sides
wiped by a car running a red light.
Side impact head airbags deploy,
which help to protect the head and
the torso airbags which protect the
body.
Side impacts can be of two types:
- perpendicular impact and angled
impact .
In the test, the car tested is
propelled sideways at 17mph
(29kph) into a rigid pole.
The pole is relatively narrow, so
there is major penetration into
the side of the car.
Side impact head airbags deploy,
which help to protect the head
by providing a padding effect
and by preventing the head from
passing through the window
opening.
In an impact without the head
protecting airbag, a driver's head
could hit the pole with sufficient
force to cause a fatal head
injury.

Anti-lock Brake Systems
Side Impact Bars/Side Door beams
Fuel Tank safety
Seat Belts
Air Bags
Non-jamming Doors
Collapsible Steering

IIHS FRONTAL CRASH TEST
TEST DETAILS:
Restraints/dummy kinematics Dummy movement was well controlled.
The driver side curtain and side torso airbags deployed during the crash.
After the dummy moved forward into the frontal airbag, it rebounded into the
seat without its head not coming close to any stiff structure that could cause
injury.
Injury measures Measures taken from the dummy indicate a low risk of any
significant injuries in a crash of this severity.

OVERALL EVALUATION:








Good Acceptable Marginal Poor

Structure/safety cage
Injury measures
Restraints/dummy kinematics Head/neck Chest Leg/foot, left Leg/foot, right
TEST DETAILS:
Driver the dummys head was protected from being hit by
any hard structures, including the intruding barrier, by a side
curtain airbag that deployed from the roof and a side airbag
that deployed from the seat.
The frontal airbag also deploys during the test.

OVERALL EVALUATION:





Good Acceptable Marginal Poor


Structure/safety cage
Injury measures
Restraints/dummy kinematics Head/neck Chest Leg/foot, left Leg/foot, right
TEST DETAILS:
Driver Measures taken from the dummy indicate that a
fracture of the pelvis would be possible in a crash of this
severity. The risk of significant injuries to other body regions
is low.
Rear passenger Measures taken from the dummy indicate a
low risk of any significant injuries in a crash of this severity as
the Side impact head airbags, torso airbags and the airbags
from the roof was deployed.
OVERALL EVALUATION:




Good Acceptable Marginal Poor

Injury measures
Head protection Structure/safety cage Head/neck Torso Pelvis/leg
Driver
Rear passenger
Ratings for
Frontal-Impact
Test
No. of
Stars
Result
5 10% or lower chance of serious injury
4 11% to 20% chance of serious injury
3 21% to 35% chance of serious injury
2 36% to 45% chance of serious injury
1 46% or greater chance of serious injury
No. of
Stars
Result
5 5% or lower chance of serious injury
4 6% to 10% chance of serious injury
3 11% to 20% chance of serious injury
2 21% to 25% chance of serious injury
1 26% or greater chance of serious injury
Ratings for
Side-Impact
Test
Other, Overall Rollover Rating:..****
Side, Rear Seat:..*****
Overall, Overall: *****
Side - Pole Barrier combined (REAR):..*****
Front, Overall Front:.*****
Side - Pole Barrier combined (FRONT):..*****
Front, Driver's: ..****
Side, Front Seat:.*****
Side - Barrier, Side - Barrier: .*****
Front, Passenger's:*****



Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS- U.S)
Euro NCAP: Established in 1997 and now backed by five
European Government
New Car Assessment Japan: evaluates the safety of
automobiles currently on the Japanese market.
Australian NCAP (ANCAP): Australian and New Zealand
automobile clubs supports Australian New Car Assessment
Program (ANCAP).
India has centers for crash testing at the Automotive
Research Association of India (ARAI) and Society of Indian
Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in Bangalore.
Tata Motorss is the only carmaker in India that has a crash-
test facility located at their plant in Pune established in 1996.

Crash testing leads to improvement of the safety
systems.
These systems again have to be tested for their
workability during a crash.
Hence crash testing plays a vital role in continuous
improvement of the safety systems.
Design changes in vehicles like the crumple zones
and the location of engine block have been the
results of evolution of crash testing.
Therefore in future, crash testing could suggest
many more design changes, which could further
minimize the probability of injury during a crash.
Paper on Offset crash tests Observations about
vehicle design and structural performance- by Michael
Paine; Vehicle Design and Research Pty Limited; Donald
McGrane Crash lab, NSW Roads and Traffic Authority;
Jack Haley NRMA Limited.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (www.iihs.com)
http://www.tata.com/tata_motors/articles/index.htm
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/ncap/
www.howstuffworks.com
www.aj.com


DRIVE SAFE