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This paper describes the mechanical design of a Suspension Parameter Identification Device and Evaluation Rig (SPIDER) for wheeled military vehicles. This is a facility used to measure quasi-static suspension and steering system properties as well as tire vertical static stiffness. The machine operates by holding the vehicle body nominally fixed while hydraulic cylinders move an “axle frame” in bounce or roll under each axle being tested. The axle frame holds wheel pads (representing the ground plane) for each wheel. Specific design considerations are presented on the wheel pads and the measurement system used to measure wheel center motion. The constraints on the axle frames are in the form of a simple mechanism that allows roll and bounce motion while constraining all other motions. An overview of the design is presented along with typical results.

The International Harmonization Research Activities Pedestrian Safety Working Group (IHRA PSWG) has proposed design requirements for two head-forms for vehicle hood (bonnet) impact testing. This paper discusses the development of MADYMO models representing the IHRA adult and child head-forms, validation of the models against laboratory drop tests, and assessment of the effect of IHRA geometric and mass constraints on the model response by conducting a parameter sensitivity analysis. The models consist of a multibody rigid sphere covered with a finite element modeled vinyl skin. The most important part in developing the MADYMO head-form models was to experimentally determine the material properties of the energy-absorbing portion of the head-form (vinyl skin) and incorporate these properties into MADYMO using a suitable material model. Three material models (linear isotropic, viscoelastic, hyperelastic) were examined.

Accident reconstructionists use several different approaches to determine vehicle equivalent impact speed from damage due to narrow object impacts. One method that is used relates maximum crush to equivalent impact speed with a bilinear curve. In the past, this model has been applied to several passenger cars with unibody construction. In this paper, the approach is applied to a body-on-frame vehicle. Several vehicle-to-rigid pole impact tests have been conducted on a full-size pickup at different speeds and impact locations: centrally located across the vehicle's front and outside the frame rail. A bilinear model relating vehicle equivalent impact speed to maximum crush is developed for the impact locations. These results are then compared to results obtained from other body-on-frame vehicles as well as unibody vehicles. Other tests such as impacts on the frame rail and barrier impacts are also presented. Limitations to this bilinear approach are discussed.

It is commonly recommended to use infant/child restraints in the rear seat, and that until an infant reaches certain age, weight and height criteria, the infant restraint should be placed rear facing. This paper will describe the injuries suffered by an infant that was restrained in a forward-facing child seat placed in the front passenger seating position during a real world collision. Based on this collision, a full-scale vehicle to barrier impact test was performed. For this test, two 6-month-old CRABI dummies were used in identical child restraints. One of the restraints was placed in the front passenger seat in a forward facing configuration, and the other was placed in the right rear seating position in a rear-facing configuration. This paper provides a detailed discussion of the results of this test, including comparisons of the specific kinematics for both the restraint/child dummy configurations.

A technique has been developed to study the effects of the vehicle interior on the performance of child safety seats. Child safety seat sled tests are used to define the kinematics of the seat and child in a crash situation. Computer animation of this motion is superimposed on the motion of the actual vehicle crash tests giving an estimation of the kinematics of the child and child seat in a real crash situation. The significance of the vehicle interior and the interference of the vehicle interior with the child's kinematics is presented within the computer animation. The analysis is conducted using a single child restraint device in multiple seating conditions within a single vehicle.

The roof structures of light utility vehicles are often comprised of a single composite shell without the usual steel or aluminum frames found on conventional passenger automobiles. This study analyzes the geometry of such structures in relation to their performance during rollover accident and roof intrusion. For a given set of material properties and roof impact velocity, their exists an optimum value of roof stiffness that would minimize the impact energy, manifested in a rollover accident, that would be transmitted to the occupant compartment. This work shows the effects of various geometric parameters on the amount of elastic strain energy that can be absorbed during deformation of the rooftop. The optimum roof geometry was determined to minimize the possibility of, if not the severity of, occupant injury.

Composite material roof structures for multipurpose vehicles are comprised of a composite shell molded without metal frames as in most automobile rooftops. This paper experimentally analyzes the roof structure performance for a static uniformly distributed load over the roof surface and examines the tensile properties, effects of high temperatures and sound absorption characteristics of the random, chopped glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin material. The roof performance includes the load-strain history and the load-deflection behavior of the structure.

Taillight lamp filaments provide valuable information on their illumination status during a collision. This information is contained in the shape of filament deformation, extent and nature of filament fracture, and filament oxidation. The degree of deformation of these filaments, a quantity which may be useful in determining velocities prior to impact, has been documented for headlights but has not been closely examined for taillights. In this paper, a study of the quantification of automobile taillight filament response when subjected to low speed impacts is presented. These studies include two different brands, five velocities up to approximately 19 miles per hour, three filament orientations, and two different deceleration pulses. Recommendations are given for further study in order to provide sufficient data for practical application and use in accident reconstruction.

This paper describes finite element simulations of human ribs in lateral impact. The goal of these simulations is to determine the ratio of the lateral stiffness of an adult's thorax to the lateral stiffness of a six year old child's thorax. The stiffness ratio found is then incorporated into a method developed by Mertz [2] to normalize cadaver lateral thoracic impact data. The results of the analysis is a proposed lateral thoracic impact response of the fiftieth percentile six year old child. The paper presents the development of the finite element rib models, discusses their validity, shows how the results are incorporated in Mertz's method, and presents the proposed child thoracic response curves.

This paper describes the development of a device to simulate the thorax of the fiftieth percentile six year old child in lateral blunt impact. The device is to be used to reconstruct actual vehicle/pedestrian collisions to determine the injury potential that various vehicles have towards pedestrians. The device is a modification of a fiftieth percentile six year old dummy thorax. Verification of the response is made by comparison with adult cadaver lateral impact data normalized and scaled to the child case. Performance evaluation of the device gave encouraging results although repeatability needs further verification.