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A new technique for evaluating side impact crashworthiness has been developed. The system employs two sleds running on one track, the striking sled carries a deformable barrier face, whilst the struck sled supports a trimmed body-in-white with ATDs. A full vehicle is not required. The system mounts to a standard HyGe reverse acceleration sled facility, the only additional equipment required being the two sleds. The technique has proved to be repeatable and representative of legislative tests, making it extremely useful during vehicle development and providing significant benefits in terms of reduced development time and cost.

Side impact crashworthiness presents a complex problem mainly due to the dynamic interaction between the occupant and the vehicle during the impact. This dictates that the ‘occupant restraint system’ cannot be considered separately from the ‘crash pulse’ as is generally the case with frontal impact. The automotive industry has been seeking effective methods for side impact development of their vehicles, MIRA has introduced two such techniques. The first is called Side Impact Dynamic Emulation, or SIDE for short. This two sled system in a HyGe laboratory generates representative deformation and the correct dynamic loading of the structure and the dummy. This technique is now well established. The second is a side impact simulation technique (M-SIS). The technique accurately simulates dummy and door interaction witnessed in full scale crash tests. Seat to door, and dummy to door contacts are reproduced for each test along with the velocity profile required.