Technical Paper
Headform Impact Testing of Plastic Glazing Materials
1993-03-01
930741
The primary objective of this study was to compare the safety performance of two different plastic glazing materials to that of tempered glass in a moveable window application. A headform impact test method was used to determine if the use of plastic glazing materials offers the potential to reduce the risk of head injuries and fatalities inside impact collisions. These tests were conducted to simulate the dummy head velocity as it penetrates the side glazing area during Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 214 full-scale, side impact, crash testing. The two plastic glazing materials tested were an abrasion resistant (AR) coated copolymer of methyl methacrylate and N-methyl glutarimide (i.e., acrylic-imide or PMMI), and a polycarbonate (PC). Each of these window materials was evaluated in the driver's door of a Pontiac 6000 vehicle.
