Results of full-scale crash tests, statzonary tests and sled tests to analyse the effects of air bags on passengers with or without seat belts in the standard sitting position and in out-of-position situations

Berg, F. Alexander; Schmitt, Bernhard; Epple, Jörg; Mattern, Rainer; Kallieris, Dimitrios

Affiliations

²Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Abstract

It can be expected that equipping new vehicles of all categories with air bags will lead to an increase of accidents in which injuries are assumed to be caused by an air bag. Answers to related questions call for comprehensive experimental findings. In this context possible injury-inducing effects of air bags in standard and nonstandard sitting positions (out-of-position situations) of passengers are of particular interest.

DEKRA Automobil AG carried out several tests to analyse the effects of air bags on belted drivers in the standard sitting position and unbelted front passengers bent forward (out of position}. In six full-scale crash tests the vehicle impacts a rigid barrier with 40 % frontal overlap. In four of the tests the collision speed was 55 kmih, in two tests 34 km/h the other 29 km/h. A belted dummy was placed on the driver’s seat in the standard position. On the front passenger seat an identical dummy was placed unbelted and leaning forward. Two further tests were carried out with a stationary vehicle and triggered the front passenger air bag. On the front passenger’s seat was an unbelted dummy bent forward. In one case its position was extreme, with the face close to the cover of the air bag. In the other case the distance between the dummy’s nose and the dashboard - as in the full-scale tests - was 175 mm. Vehicle deceleration and vehicle damage measured during the tests, together with the ioads on the dummies and their kinematics are described.

At the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Heidelberg seven sled tests were carried out to simulate frontal collisions at speeds around 50 km/h involving unbelted human cadavers in a standard sitting position. The restraint system used in each case was a full-size air bag in conjunction with knee pads. In addition to the dummy tests the measured accelerations of the cadavers and their injuries are described.

To summarize there follows an inter-disciplinary discussion and evaluation of all test results with regard to protective effects and possible injuries caused by air bags.

Links

URL: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv16/98s5o10.pdf

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Cited By (3)

Year	Entry
2015	Kent RW, Forman J. Restraint system biomechanics. In: Yoganandan N, Nahum AM, Melvin JW, eds. Accidental Injury: Biomechanics and Prevention. 3rd ed. New York: Springer; 2015:113-141.
2000	Kent RW, Crandall JR, Bolton JR, Duma SM. Driver and right-front passenger restraint system interaction, injury potential, and thoracic injury prediction. In: 44th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 2-4, 2000; Chicago, IL.
2018	Gierczycka D. Investigation of Thorax Response and Potential for Injury in Side Impacts Using Integrated Detailed Human and Vehicle Finite-Element Models [PhD thesis]. Waterloo, ON: University of Waterloo; 2018.