Technical Paper
Front Bumper Dive During Maximum Braking of ABS-equipped Vehicles
2024-04-09
2024-01-2469
Passenger vehicle bumpers are designed to reduce collision damage. If colliding bumpers are not aligned, effectiveness is reduced and resulting damage increases. Two bumpers of similar static design heights may become mis-aligned due to bumper dive, vehicle pitching caused by pre-impact braking. Previous researchers have quantified bumper dive and how it changed with changing passenger vehicle designs. Currently there are limited data available to quantify the mean, variance, and distribution of bumper dive for modern ABS-equipped vehicles. We conducted maximum braking tests using three (3) late-model vans and nine (9) late-model sedans on contiguous dry asphalt and concrete road surfaces. Sixteen (16) to Twenty-three (23) tests were conducted for each vehicle and all tests were conducted from a targeted initial speed of 65 km/h (40 mph). A laser distance sensor mounted to the front bumpers measured bumper dive.