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Safety continues to be one of the most important factors in motor vehicle design, manufacturing, and marketing.  This course provides a comprehensive overview of these critical automotive safety considerations: injury and anatomy; human tolerance and biomechanics; occupant protection; testing; and federal legislation. The knowledge shared at this course enables participants to be more aware of safety considerations and to better understand and interact with safety experts. This course has been approved by the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR) for 18 Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

Investigating human driver behavior enhances the acceptance of the autonomous driving and increases road safety in heterogeneous environments with human-operated and autonomous vehicles. The previously established driver fingerprint model, focuses on the classification of driving style based on CAN bus signals. However, driving styles are inherently complex and influenced by multiple factors, including changing driving environments and driver states. To comprehensively create a driver profile, an in-car measurement system based on the Driver-Driven vehicle-Driving environment (3D) framework is developed. The measurement system records emotional and physiological signals from the driver, including ECG signal and heart rate. A Raspberry Pi camera is utilized on the dashboard to capture the driver's facial expressions and a trained convolutional neural network (CNN) recognizes emotion. To conduct unobtrusive ECG measurements, an ECG sensor is integrated into the steering wheel.

This title includes the technical papers developed for the 2023 Stapp Car Crash Conference, the premier forum for the presentation of research in impact biomechanics, human injury tolerance, and related fields, advancing the knowledge of land-vehicle crash injury protection. The conference provides an opportunity to participate in open discussion about the causes and mechanisms of injury, experimental methods and tools for use in impact biomechanics research, and the development of new concepts for reducing injuries and fatalities in automobile crashes.

Computer modelling, virtual prototyping and simulation is widely used in the automotive industry to optimize the development process. While the use of CAE is widespread, on its own it lacks the ability to provide observable acoustics or tactile vibrations for decision makers to assess, and hence optimize the customer experience. Subjective assessment using Driver-in-Loop simulators to experience data has been shown to improve the quality of vehicles and reduce development time and uncertainty. Efficient development processes require a seamless interface from detailed CAE simulation to subjective evaluations suitable for high level decision makers. In the context of perceived vehicle vibration, the need for a bridge between complex CAE data and realistic subjective evaluation of tactile response is most compelling. A suite of VI-grade noise and vibration simulators have been developed to meet this challenge.

For automotive engineers involved in crash reconstruction and analysis, a knowledge of basic accident reconstruction principles and techniques is essential, but often insufficient to answer all of the questions posed by design engineers, regulators, and lawyers. This course takes participants beyond the basics of accident reconstruction to physical models and analysis techniques that are unique to the reconstruction of single-vehicle rollover crashes.

The paramount importance of titanium alloy in implant materials stems from its exceptional qualities, yet the optimization of bone integration and mitigation of wear and corrosion necessitate advanced technologies. Consequently, there has been a surge in research efforts focusing on surface modification of biomaterials to meet these challenges. This project is dedicated to enhancing the surface of titanium alloys by employing shot peening and powder coatings of titanium oxide and zinc oxide. Comparative analyses were meticulously conducted on the mechanical and wear properties of both treated and untreated specimens, ensuring uniformity in pressure, distance, and time parameters across all experiments. The outcomes underscore the efficacy of both methods in modifying the surface of the titanium alloy, leading to substantial alterations in surface properties.

Evolving to MedDev provides a new opportunity for executives in aerospace, automotive and medical devices companies to connect and develop long-term growth strategies and find ways to meet the increased short-term demand for medical supplies

Evolving to MedDev provides a new opportunity for executives in aerospace, automotive and medical devices companies to connect and develop long-term growth strategies and find ways to meet the increased short-term demand for medical supplies

Evolving to MedDev provides a new opportunity for executives in aerospace, automotive and medical devices companies to connect and develop long-term growth strategies and find ways to meet the increased short-term demand for medical supplies

Evolving to MedDev provides a new opportunity for executives in aerospace, automotive and medical devices companies to connect and develop long-term growth strategies and find ways to meet the increased short-term demand for medical supplies

Evolving to MedDev provides a new opportunity for executives in aerospace, automotive and medical devices companies to connect and develop long-term growth strategies and find ways to meet the increased short-term demand for medical supplies

Evolving to MedDev provides a new opportunity for executives in aerospace, automotive and medical devices companies to connect and develop long-term growth strategies and find ways to meet the increased short-term demand for medical supplies

Evolving to MedDev provides a new opportunity for executives in aerospace, automotive and medical devices companies to connect and develop long-term growth strategies and find ways to meet the increased short-term demand for medical supplies

Evolving to MedDev provides a new opportunity for executives in aerospace, automotive and medical devices companies to connect and develop long-term growth strategies and find ways to meet the increased short-term demand for medical supplies

This document covers the recommended practice for determining the acceptability of the dendrite arm spacing (DAS) of D357-T6 aluminum alloy castings required to have tensile strength not lower than 50 ksi (345 MPa).

Abstract With population aging and life expectancy increasing, elderly drivers have been increasing quickly in the United States and the heterogeneity among them with age is also increasingly non-ignorable. Based on traffic crash data of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2019, this study was designed to identify this heterogeneity by quantifying the relationship between age and crash characteristics using linear regression. It is found that for elderly driver-involved crashes, the proportion leading to casualties significantly increases with age. Meanwhile, the proportions at night, on rainy days, on snowy days, and involving driving under the influence (DUI) decrease linearly with age, implying that elderly drivers tend to avoid traveling in risky scenarios. Regarding collision types, elderly driver-involved crashes are mainly composed of angle, rear-end, and hit-fixed-object collisions, proportions of which increase linearly, decrease linearly, and keep consistent with age, respectively.

To investigate the rollover phenomena experienced by all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) during their motion caused by input from the road surface, a combined simulation using CarSim and Simulink has been employed to validate an active anti-rollover control strategy based on differential braking for ATVs, followed by vehicle testing. In the research process, a nonlinear three-degrees-of-freedom vehicle model has been developed. By utilizing a zero-moment point index as a rollover warning indicator, this approach could accurately detect the rollover status of the vehicle, particularly in scenarios involving low road adhesion on unpaved surfaces, which are characteristic of ATV operation. The differential braking, generating a roll moment by adjusting the amount of lateral force each braked tire can generate, was proved as an effective method to enhance rolling stability.

The objectives of this study were to provide insights on how injury risk is influenced by occupant demographics such as sex, age, and size; and to quantify differences within the context of commonly-occurring real-world crashes. The analyses were confined to either single-event collisions or collisions that were judged to be well-defined based on the absence of any significant secondary impacts. These analyses, including both logistic regression and descriptive statistics, were conducted using the Crash Investigation Sampling System for calendar years 2017 to 2021. In the case of occupant sex, the findings agree with those of many recent investigations that have attempted to quantify the circumstances in which females show elevated rates of injury relative to their male counterparts given the same level bodily insult. This study, like others, provides evidence of certain female-specific injuries.

With the current trend of including the evaluation of the risk of brain injuries in vehicle crashes due to rotational kinematics of the head, two injury criteria have been introduced since 2013 – BrIC and DAMAGE. BrIC was developed by NHTSA in 2013 and was suggested for inclusion in the US NCAP for frontal and side crashes. DAMAGE has been developed by UVa under the sponsorship of JAMA and JARI and has been accepted tentatively by the EuroNCAP. Although BrIC in US crash testing is known and reported, DAMAGE in tests of the US fleet is relatively unknown. The current paper will report on DAMAGE in NCAP-like tests and potential future frontal crash tests involving substantial rotation about the three axes of occupant heads. Distribution of DAMAGE of three-point belted occupants without airbags will also be discussed. Prediction of brain injury risks from the tests have been compared to the risks in the real world.

Highway safety remains a significant concern, especially in mixed traffic scenarios involving heavy-duty vehicles (HDV) and smaller passenger cars. The vulnerability of HDVs following closely behind smaller cars is evident in incidents involving the lead vehicle, potentially leading to catastrophic rear-end collisions. This paper explores how automatic speed enforcement systems, using speed cameras, can mitigate risks for HDVs in such critical situations. While historical crash data consistently demonstrates the reduction of accidents near speed cameras, this paper goes beyond the conventional notion of crash occurrence reduction. Instead, it investigates the profound impact of driver behavior changes within desired travel speed distribution, especially around speed cameras, and their contribution to the safety of trailing vehicles, with a specific focus on heavy-duty trucks in accident-prone scenarios.