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The Inflatable Curtain (IC) has shown great potential to reduce head injuries in side impacts. This study explores and presents enhanced performance in two steps of improved activation algorithms. Crash data analysis, 21 full scale crash tests and component tests in a custom built drop tower rig have been performed. The IC performance in wider crash scenarios, including side impacts outside the occupant compartment (L-type impacts), was evaluated. Both statistical crash data and in-depth studies were used. It was found in the analysis of real life crashes that moderate to fatal head injuries can occur without intrusion in the occupant compartment. In L-type side impacts, the motion of the occupant relative to the vehicle interior may cause a head impact of sufficiently high severity to cause moderate to severe head injuries. A combined analysis of real world crash data and crash test results indicates that a substantial reduction in moderate to fatal head injuries can be achieved.

The performance of three different six-year old dummies, the new Hybrid III six-year-old from First Technology Safety Systems, the Part 572 Subpart I and the TNO P6, was compared in a series of HYGE sled tests. The dummies were tested on aftermarket booster cushions in a Volvo 850 sled buck. Two different sled pulses were used: a Volvo 850 30 mph frontal crash pulse and an ECE R.44 pulse. The behavior of the dummies was compared for these two sled pulses. Motion analysis from high speed film was performed, showing the trajectories of the dummy heads. All dummies were fitted with triaxial accelerometers in the head, chest and pelvis. The Hybrid III was also equipped with a chest deflection transducer and Denton six-channel upper neck and five-channel lumbar spine load cells. The signals from a number of these sensors were compared.

Injuries in side impact collisions constitute one fourth of the serious or fatal injuries sustained by occupants in ordinary passenger cars. The Volvo Side Impact Protection System (SIPS) provides a substantially enhanced protection for car occupants in side collisions. The protection level of the SIPS system has been further increased by the addition of the Sipsbag, a quick-deploying side impact airbag system integrated in the seat backrest. The design of the non-electrical Sipsbag system is explained, as well as the advantages with a completely seat-integrated system. The process to industrialise the side airbag concept is summarised. Laboratory test results are discussed. Using methodology to correlate laboratory test data with accident data, an estimate of the injury-reducing effectiveness of the SIPS and Sipsbag system is made.

Flexible car body production, including prototyping, is one answer to the market targets where customers ask for an increasing number of models / variants and shorter lead time. The in-house interests of car builders are, besides investment and manpower flexibility, also improved product quality. Quality in body in white is mainly related to geometry (= high precision), to make sure that the final assembly shops will have the right conditions to keep customers satisfied (flush in doors, hood, fenders etc.). The consequences are that both the product and the process equipment have to be in a stable condition to guarantee low spread in the complete car-body. CAD technology is one of the keys to reach this goal, where: Off-line tooling Off-line programming Flow simulation Measurement strategy, off-line / in-line are the main powerful tools to reduce lead time as well as costs.

Frontal collisions account for the majority of car accidents. Regulations have been in effect since the late sixties, aiming at assuring a basic safety performance for cars in this type of crash. From a legislative point of view tests as e.g. FMVSS 208 are about to be complemented by other frontal impact configurations. Two of the reasons behind this is to allow assessment also of asymmetric loads to the vehicle front and the level of passenger compartment intrusion. This paper offers a comparison of different frontal crash tests, including Volvo's Severe Partial Overlap Collision (SPOC) and offset tests against a deformable barrier. The methods are evaluated with respect to their results, both from a dummy performance point of view and based on car deformation characteristics. Also, the practicability and possible effect on vehicle designs are discussed.

Research on frontal collisions has been the theme of numerous papers and publications over the years. The relevance of the subject is clearly demonstrated by different accident studies. The analysis shows that apart from the traditional high speed full frontal barrier impact, it is also necessary to simulate tests at lower speeds and partial overlap collisions at high speeds. This paper describes one of the frontal impact situations, the Severe Partial Overlap Collision (SPOC); accident analyses leading to a test method and its application by description of a new car design concept.

Recent cadaver studies have provided data for the development of force and stiffness characteristics of the side of the human head. A Hybrid III Anthropomorphic Test Dummy (ATD) head was modified to allow direct measurement of impact forces on the parietal and temporal regions by recasting the upper left half of the skull and installing triaxial piezoelectric force transducers. Dynamic impact tests of this modified head were conducted and force/stiffness characteristics for the temporal and parietal areas were compared to existing data on cadaver subjects. It was found that the existing Hybrid III vinyl skin satisfactorily represents the force/stiffness characteristics of the human head in these areas. This modified Hybrid III dummy head was also impacted against typical interior components likely to be contacted during a side impact. The force and acceleration test results are presented.

The level at which forces are transmitted from the striking vehicle in side impacts may influence the response of the struck car in several different ways. A better contact between the front bumper of the striking and the sill area of the struck car has been considered to be desirable in this respect. In side impacts, the most frequent direction of the impact is from 3 and 9 o'clock, while the direction of the forces is usually from 2 and 10 o'clock due to the velocity of the struck car. A European car and the EEVC moving deformable barrier have, therefore, been used in a crabbed mode to study the problem of load transfer at different levels above the ground. Volvo and Saab cars were used as targets in 55 km/h side impact with an APROD-81 side impact dummy placed on the struck side in the front seat. The results indicate that a difference in the level at which the loads were applied could influence the deformations, the kinematics of the struck cars, and the loading of the occupant.