The 5th percentile dummy in a 56 kmph fullfrontal barrier crash test

Beuse, Nathaniel M.; Hollowell, William T.; Summers, Lori; Morgan, Richard M.; Park, Brian T.; Rockwell, Taryn E.; Swanson, Jesse L.

Affiliations

¹National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

²ACE Systems Technologies, Inc.

Abstract

In 1998, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) tested the 5th percentile dummy and the 50th percentile dummy in 48 KMPH (30 MPH) belted full-frontal crash tests. From these tests, it was concluded that the 5th percentile dummy experienced increased injury measures to the neck and tibia compared to the 50th percentile dummy when crashed in the same vehicle. In 2001, the agency conducted ten belted 56 KMPH (35 MPH) frontal vehicle crash tests using the 5th percentile dummy. This paper summarizes the results and findings of those tests. The results indicate that the 5th percentile dummy is a robust and very durable dummy, which could be used as a tool for safety information. The testing also showed that, for some vehicles, the 5th percentile dummy incurred greater injury measures than the 50th percentile dummy tested in the same vehicle, particularly for the neck and the lower extremities. The average Nij reading for the 5th percentile driver dummy was 0.82, while for the 50th percentile driver dummy, the average Nij reading was 0.39. Also, the average normalized neck tension reading for the 5th percentile driver dummy was 0.70, whereas it was 0.41 for the 50th percentile driver dummy for the vehicles of this test series. Average normalized neck tension readings for the 5th percentile passenger dummy were 0.40, whereas 0.28 was the average normalized reading for the 50th percentile passenger dummy in the vehicles tested. For the 5th percentile driver, all but three vehicles exceed one of the four indices for the tibia, whereas only four vehicles exceeded one of these indices for the 50th percentile driver. Finally, the testing revealed the need for different stature dummies to ensure equal protection for all occupants.

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