Side interior stiffness measurement

Willke, Donald T.; Monk, Michael W.

Affiliations

Abstract

In side impacts, injury to occupants is caused by the contact of the occupant with one or more of the various interior surfaces, or structures, of the vehicle for instance, a majority of thoracic injuries are due to an impact with the interior area of the door. Likewise, a large number of head injuries result from the head striking upper interior structures.

It may be possible that a change in the stiffness characteristics of these upper interior structures could reduce their injury causing potential. The first step toward improvement is the measurement of existing structural characteristics and the relation of these to head impact responses.

This report reviews an approach and hardware used to measure the upper interior stiffness characteristics of a few vehicles. Alternative methods of stiffness characterization are presented. In addition, it reviews the effort made to determine the significance of the stiffness variations through an attempt to relate head injury to the measured stiffness characteristics. Injury estimates in the form of Head Injury Criteria (HIC) and Mean Strain Criteria (MSC) are presented.

Links

DOI: 10.4271/861880

SAE: 861880

Cited By (5)

Year	Entry
1991	Fildes BN, Lane JC, Lenard J, Vulcan AP. Passenger Cars and Occupant Injury. Monash University Accident Research Centre, Cr95. Canberra, Australia: Federal Office of Road Safety; March 1991. Report No. CR95.
1994	Fildes BN, Lane JC, Lenard J, Vulcan AP. Passenger Cars and Occupant Injury: Side Impact Crashes. Canberra, Australia: Federal Office of Road Safety; April 1994. Report No. CR 134.
1987	Monk MW, Gahler HC, Sullivan LK. Subsystem testing for head to upper interior safety. In: Proceedings of the 11th International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESV). May 12-15, 1987; Washington, DC.103-116.
1991	Friedman D, Friedman KD. Roof collapse and the risk of severe. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESV). November 4-7, 1991; Paris, France.753-765.
1993	Ashkenazi Z, Arcan M. Protection of passengers sitting laterally in a light truck box undergoing crash. In: Proceedings of the 1993 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 8-10, 1993; Eindhoven, The Netherlands.355-366.