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Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) revised the Final Rule for Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS 208) - Occupant Crash Protection [1]. This rule, which will first take effect during the 2004 model year, specifies a number of new compliance test requirements that advanced frontal protection airbags will have to meet. The goal of the new standard is to reduce the risk of serious airbag induced injuries, particularly for small women and young children, and provide improved frontal crash protection for all occupants. In response to this new rule, vehicles in the future will have electronic sensors located in the seat and other advanced sensor systems. These sensors will be designed to measure critical data, such as occupant weight and size, which will be used to control the airbag. The reliability of the sensors through the entire life of a vehicle is critical to its overall safety characteristics.

Over the last several years, designers have been working toward developing airbag suppression systems in order to satisfy the new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208 - Occupant Crash Protection requirements currently being phased-in [1, 2]. By September 1, 2005, all vehicles are required to be in compliance with the new requirements. The new rule requires that vehicles must have an airbag suppression system that turns the airbag off in cases where a child or child seat is detected in the front passenger occupant position. Typically incorporated in the seating structure or cushion area, these suppression systems are activated each time the seat is occupied. More so than any other component, this feature makes safety, durability, and reliability testing of these systems critical to their functionality. This paper will discuss how airbag suppression systems have affected the standard testing procedures of vehicle components including seats and airbags.

This paper presents results from a series of tests that address safety related issues concerning vehicle glazing. These issues include occupant containment, head impact injury, neck injuries, fracture modes, and laceration. Component-level and full vehicle crash tests of standard and polycarbonate non-windshield glazing were conducted. The tests were conducted as part of a study to demonstrate that there is no decrease in the safety benefits offered by polycarbonate glazing when compared to current glazing. Readers of this paper will gain a broader understanding of the tests that are typically conducted for glazing evaluation from a safety perspective, as well as gain insight into the meaning of the results.

A comprehensive strategy to investigate the role of the body mounts on the passenger compartment response in a frontal crash event is presented. The activities of the study include quasi-static vehicle crush testing, development of a component-level dynamic body mount test methodology, lumped-mass computer modeling, as well as technical analysis. In addition, a means of investigating the effects the body mounts have on the passenger compartment response during a frontal barrier impact is addressed.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 202 - Head Restraints [1] sets forth criteria pertaining to the dimensional and safety requirements for front outboard head restraints in passenger vehicles, light multipurpose vehicles, trucks, and buses. On January 4, 2001, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a Notice for Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for FMVSS 202, wherein referred to as FMVSS 202A [2]. The proposed requirements, which apply to all outboard head restraints, provide higher strength and dimensional limits, introduce new criteria for backset and adjustment retention, and partially harmonize with existing European regulations. This paper will discuss upgraded testing equipment and methodologies with respect to head restraints and provide test data from a developmental test project.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 202A - Head Restraints sets forth the criteria pertaining to the dimensional and safety requirements for outboard head restraints in passenger vehicles, light multipurpose vehicles, trucks, and buses. On December 7, 2004, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) officially published the Final Rule for FMVSS 202A[1]. The new requirements, with compliance to either a static option or a dynamic option, become effective on September 1, 2008 for front seat outboard occupants. For rear seat outboard occupants, the effective date is September 1, 2010, through an amendment published on March 9, 2006. This paper will discuss the dynamic test option and the changes to the test procedure and method used to conduct the test. An accelerator-type sled system, along with a 50th percentile male Hybrid III test dummy specified in 49 CFR Part 572 Subpart E and other peripheral items, are used in this testing.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208 - Occupant Crash Protection establishes performance requirements to determine whether passenger vehicles, light multipurpose vehicles, and trucks meet conditions and injury criteria specified by the standard. On May 12, 2004, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) amended the standard to set the path for future air bag development [1, 2]. The amendment concerned the development of airbag systems that would be designed to minimize the risk of air bag induced injuries in comparison to current technologies. These new rules forward the framework for engineering of these systems without strictly regulating their design. This paper will discuss the test methodologies used from the initial design phase to the final validation phase of a vehicle. Strategies for advanced air bag system types, suppression and low risk occupant mixes, and the use of human subjects will be discussed.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to upgrade the dynamic portion of FMVSS 214 - Side Impact Protection [1]. This notice adds an oblique pole test to the existing moving deformable barrier test and covers a wider range of occupant sizes in a broader range of seat positions. These upgrades will present several challenges to vehicle manufacturers and suppliers. This paper will provide an overview of the NPRM, review test data used in support of the NPRM, describe component-level tests used to develop ideal side impact properties, and overview the vehicle changes that will be needed to meet these requirements.

In April 1997, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a final rule amending Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 201U. This rule specifies improved upper interior head impact protection requirements for all vehicles with a GVWR of 10,000 lbs or less (and buses under 8,500 lbs). The purpose of this new safety standard is to afford occupants within a vehicle additional protection to reduce the likelihood of severe head injury regardless of the type of vehicle collision. As with past standards, the NHTSA provided a test procedure to be used for compliance testing. This procedure includes information regarding set-up, targeting, testing, and data analysis. The targeting procedure, which locates all applicable target points on the upper interior trim of a vehicle, was written without being vehicle-specific. This test procedure is one of the most complex and time-consuming testing protocols developed in recent years.

This paper presents the resultf a project concerning the development of a test procedure for evaluating rear impact guards installed on trailers. The procedure was based on requirements established in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 223, Rear Impact Guards. Rear impact guards are required on trailers to prevent passenger vehicles from driving underneath the rear of a trailer, commonly referred to as underride. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 11,551 rear-end crashes with trucks, trailers, and semi-trailers occur annually. These crashes result in approximately 423 passenger vehicle occupant fatalities and 5030 nonfatal injuries. The nonfatal injuries include lacerations to the head and neck area, severe brain trauma, and internal hemorrhaging. The objective of the test procedure was to present uniform formats for testing and data recording, and provide suggestions for the use of specific equipment.

Abstract - Approximately a quarter of automobile accidents in the United States involve multiple impacts, but no standard test methodologies exist for the evaluation of these types of events. In this study, four categories were used for the selection of multiple crash scenarios, resulting in ten representatives of multiple scenarios. NASS-CDS was analyzed to determine the types and percentages of multiple crash accidents. Simulation was conducted with variable such as initial velocity of each vehicle, and items such as overlap and angle between vehicles. And it was used determine the final test conditions. The review of the test results, indicated different vehicle dynamics, vehicle damage and occupant kinematics compared with NCAP test modes. This data can be helpful to understand how the severe accidents are happening and how the occupants move and are injured inside the vehicle in which accidents are occurring in the field.

Historically, crash development component testing has been conducted using gravity-based vertical drop towers. The drop tower carriage is loaded to a specified weight, raised to a specific height to achieve an energy target, and dropped onto the part. This long-used approach has significant limitations with respect to achievable speed and energy, part orientation, impact angle, useable impact surface, component size, etc. With the wide variance in simulating today’s global crash scenarios, a better approach is being developed using an impact sled. The most significant advantage of this system is that there is a much higher achievable speed and energy which can be controlled with precise accuracy. This paper will provide an overview of the impact sled test system, as well as the methodology used to conduct the testing. The overview will include the challenges faced during the development of the impact sled, as well as the need for accurate and precise component fixturing methods.

This paper presents testing methodologies used for the evaluation of airbag sensor systems. The methods are geared towards the analysis of airbag deployment/non-deployment situations through the use of harsh and abusive tests that include both driving and stationary impact conditions. Readers of the paper will gain a broad understanding of the testing options that are available to develop suitable airbag sensor systems and deployment algorithms. The methodologies presented in this paper address only the issue of preventing deployment in certain environments. The vehicle conditions are critical when developing the threshold of the deployment algorithm. The Rough Road and Abuse tests are an important part of developing this algorithm. With airbag deployment threshold levels being such an important issue in the safety field, the test methods used to simulate real world conditions become an integral aspect to overall airbag development.

Vehicle manufacturers are developing dynamically deploying upper interior head protection systems to provide added occupant protection in lateral crashes. These devices are used to protect the head and neck areas and to prevent ejection from the vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has established requirements in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 201 [1] for these systems. This paper will discuss testing methodologies in the areas of component testing of curtain-type side airbag systems and full scale side impact testing of a vehicle into a rigid pole. These testing methodologies have been created as a direct result of the development phase of several airbag systems. Prior to pole impact testing, tests have been developed which evaluate these types of systems for characteristics such as inflation time, fill capacity, and how long the system stays inflated during side impact and rollover simulations.

As a result of changing safety regulations, airbag manufacturers and automakers are continually creating and developing new types of airbag systems. These devices are used to afford protection to vehicle occupants in the event of a collision. Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) established new requirements for airbags under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208 - Occupant Crash Protection [1] and FMVSS 201U - Upper Interior Head Impact Protection [2]. This paper will discuss improved testing equipment and methodologies in the areas of component and full-vehicle testing involving various types of airbags. This work has been the direct result of numerous airbag system development projects currently underway.

The implementation of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 201U-Upper Interior Head Impact Protection[1] will require significant changes to vehicle interiors. The response from the safety industry to this regulation has resulted in a number of new and innovative design solutions. These countermeasures include integrated trim components, foam, and other types of deformable structures. The challenge to the safety industry is to design the components to provide higher levels of head impact protection without sacrificing other important considerations such as vision, appearance, durability, and cost. This paper will present background information on FMVSS 201U testing, discuss various countermeasure concepts currently being implemented, and suggest design alternatives relative to specific regions in a given vehicle.

This paper describes the development of a new sled system that can address many safety-related issues pertaining to the racing industry. The system was designed to re-create acceleration and velocity levels similar to levels evident in race car crashes. The sled utilizes equipment typically used in passenger car crash research with the primary change to a specially designed lightweight carriage. This paper will overview the system and the types of crash events that can be simulated. Readers of this paper will gain a much broader understanding of accelerator sled testing and the issues related to the simulation of high speed crashes using physical testing.