Overlap car-to-car tests compared to car-to-half barrier and car-to-full barrier tests

Ragland, Carl; Dalrymple, Gayle

Affiliations

¹National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Abstract

In issuing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, “Occupant Crash Protection,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has established requirements for crash protection with automatic restraints at up to 30 mph in frontal impacts into a barrier. The lives and injuries which will be saved are substantial. However, it is estimated that, even after full implementation of this standard, frontal impacts will account for approximately 10,900 passenger car and light truck fatalities per year. Due to this continued safety problem, the NHTSA has added the improvement of frontal crash protection to its priority plan (1). Research has been initiated to investigate concepts to mitigate this problem including the evaluation of advanced restraints, improved structural integrity, and improved energy absorbing interiors. A detailed definition of the safety problem for frontal impacts subsequent to the implementation of FMVSS No. 208 has been initiated. Based on this safety problem definition, a comprehensive research program is being designed to identify mitigation concepts. The research program will utilize real world crash data, laboratory crash test data, and computer simulations to arrive at countermeasures. This paper presents some preliminary analyses of the laboratory crash tests for exploring possible test procedures that can be used to further evaluate structural integrity countermeasures. Particularly, a series of baseline car-to-car tests were conducted to provide comparisons of crash responses between full frontal barrier, car-to-barrier overlap and car-to-car overlap impacts. These tests were useful to provide a better understanding of the crash kinematics by crash mode. They were conducted at 63.5% overlap and 90% overlap and were compared to previously conducted full frontal barrier and 50% overlap barrier tests at 25 mph and 35 mph.

Cited Works (2)

Year	Entry
1989	Hackney JR, Hollowell WT, Cohen DS. Analysis of frontal crash safety performance of passenger cars, light trucks and vans and an outline of future research requirements. In: Proceedings of the 12th International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESV). May 29–June 1, 1989; Göteborg, Sweden.233-241.
1989	Ragland C, Klemer G. Intrusion effects on steering assembly performance in frontal crash testing. In: Proceedings of the 12th International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESV). May 29–June 1, 1989; Göteborg, Sweden.358-388.

Cited By (6)

Year	Entry
1993	Planath I, Norin H, Nilsson S. Severe frontal collisions with partial overlap: significance, test methods and car design. In: Proceedings of the SAE International Congress & Exposition. March 1-5, 1993; Detroit, MI. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers. SAE 930636.
1993	Hill JR, Frampton RJ, Mackay M. Appropriate frontal barrier tests for restrained occupants. In: 37th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). November 4-6, 1993; San Antonio, TX.287-302.
1994	O’Neill B, Lund AK, Zuby DS, Preuss CA. Offset frontal impacts: a comparison of real-world crashes with laboratory tests. In: Proceedings of the 14th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 23-26, 1994; Munich, Germany.649-670.
2001	Brewer JC. Effects of angles and offsets in crash simulations of automobiles with light trucks. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 4-7, 2001; Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2001	Ragland CL, Fessahaie O, Elliott D. Evaluation of frontal offset/oblique crash test conditions. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 4-7, 2001; Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
1992	Scheunert D, Justen R, Herrmann R, Zeidler F, Decker J, Kallina I. What is a realistic frontal offset test procedure. In: Proceedings of the 1992 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 9-11, 1992; Verona, Italy.75-87.