With the introduction of the FMVSS 208 Final Rule, the requirements for occupant protection systems in frontal crashes have significantly increased. Especially the requirements regarding the airbag aggressiveness for “Low Risk Deployment” pose new challenges for both automobile manufacturers and suppliers.

The testing procedure detailed in § S26 of the FMVSS 208 is commonly referred to as “Out-of- Position” (OoP). This procedure considers the HIII 5% dummy on the driver side for two different positions (position 1:​ “Chin on Module”, position 2:​ “Chin on Rim”).

With the applied testing method, the test setup allows tolerances regarding the dummy positioning relative to the vehicle environment.

A comprehensive analysis of the influence of the dummy positioning has shown that particularly the head angle can vary among dummy manufacturers and may result in different OoP load characteristics.

Beside In addition to tolerances caused by the airbag module and the steering wheel design itself, the dummy’s head angle is a significant factor for a variation of the OoP test results.

Out-of-position tests with identical module design have shown that the dummy positioning resulting from the head angle can lead to a misinterpretation of the test results. Depending on the dummy position, the OoP results range from far below the legal limits to a value exceeding them.

During the module development process, this scope of interpretations dramatically affects the assessment of the OoP performance and may lead to wrong conclusions.