Development of a biofidelic flexible pedestrian legform impactor type GTR prototype, II:​ technical details

Been, Bernard; Burleigh, Mark; Konosu, Atsuhiro; Issiki, Takahiro; Takahashi, Yukou; Suzuki, Hideki

Affiliations

¹First Technology Safety Systems, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom

²Japan Automobile Research Institute, Japan

³Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc., Japan

Abstract

In 1998 the European Enhanced Vehicle-Safety Committee (EEVC) proposed a test procedure to assess the protection vehicles provide to the lower extremity of a pedestrian during a collision. This procedure utilizes a legform impactor composed of rigid long bones. In order to improve biofidelity of the legform impactor, the Japan Automobile Research Institute (JARI) and the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc. (JAMA) have been developing a biofidelic flexible pedestrian legform impactor (Flex-PLI) since 2002.

The Flex-PLI has high biofidelity especially for its long bone parts, which have human-like bending characteristics under a car impact condition, compared to other types of legform impactors, which have rigid long bone parts. The Flex-PLI also provides extended injury assessment capability, including long bone bending moment at multiple locations and knee ligament elongations in comparison to other pedestrian legforms.

In 2005, the Flex-PLI Technical Evaluation Group (Flex-TEG) was settled under the UN/ECE/WP29/GRSP/Informal Group on Pedestrian Safety in order to evaluate its performance to adopt the impactor as a regulatory purpose test tool for a Global Technical Regulation on Pedestrian Safety (PS-GTR: gtr 9). The Flex-PLI was evaluated and improved its performance under the Flex-TEG activity, and then its design of the final version, type GTR (Flex-GTR), was agreed by the Flex-TEG members in April 2008.

This paper provides technical details of the Flexible Pedestrian Legform Impactor GTR prototype (Flex- GTR prototype). Technical specifications on all important aspects of the Flex-GTR prototype are given: dimensions and mass at (sub-) assembly level; biomechanical responses of main components of the femur, knee and tibia; calibration procedures and corridors; standard and optional instrumentation channels, their capacity and position; handling; including details of electrical systems and data acquisition. The paper will present results of calibration testing, repeatability and reproducibility of three prototypes which are evaluated at First Technology Safety Systems (FTSS) before their release from the FTSS factory.

Links

URL: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv21/09-0146.pdf

Cited Works (4)

Year	Entry
1998	EEVC Working Group 17 Report: Improved Test Methods to Evaluate Pedestrian Protection Afforded by Passenger Cars. European Enhanced Vehicle-Safety Committee (EEVC); 1998.
2003	Konosu A, Tanahashi M. Development of a biofidelic flexible pedestrian legform impactor. Stapp Car Crash J. 2003;47:459-472. SAE 2003-22-0020.
2005	Konosu A, Issiki T, Tanahashi M. Development of a biofidelic flexible pedestrian leg-form impactor (Flex-PLI 2004) and evaluation of its biofidelity at the component level and at the assembly level. In: Proceedings of the SAE World Congress & Exhibition. April 11-14, 2005; Detroit, MI. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers. SAE 2005-01-1879.
1995	Instrumentation for impact test, I: electronic instrumentation. Society for Automotive Engineers International; March 1995. SAE J211-1.

Cited By (2)

Year	Entry
2009	Konosu A, Issiki T, Takahashi Y, Suzuki H, Been B, Burleigh M, Hirasawa T, Kanoshima H. Development of a biofidelic flexible pedestrian legform impactor type GTR prototype, I: development and technical evaluations. In: Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 15-18, 2009; Stuttgart, Germany.
2018	Isshiki T, Antona‐Makoshi J, Konosu A, Takahashi Y. Consolidated technical specifications for the advanced pedestrian legform impactor (aPLI). In: Proceedings of the 2018 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 12-14, 2018; Athens, Greece.284-301.