DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF A VEHICLE INTERIOR IMPACTOR

A vehicle interior impactor was designed and fabricated to permit evaluation of vehicle interior surfaces with regard to their energy absorbing characteristics. This device can evaluate interior surfaces of production vehicles without their modification and at lower cost and in less time than impact sled testing. The impactor is free standing and accommodates action and reaction loads from firing and impact within its own frame. The impactor can accommodate a variety of body forms weighing up to 40.4 kg (89 lbs) and propel these up to 48.3 km/hr (30 mph). It includes fixtures specifically designed for Part 572 dummy head, thorax-abdomen and lower extremities (abdomen and legs); these fixtures can be modified to accept Hybrid III dummy body parts. The impactor is adjustable to permit almost any vehicle interior surface to be targeted. A series of 135 test runs were made with the impactor to evaluate its performance with all three body forms, each at a variety of velocities. From this data a series of firing curves were made. The firing curves related pressure settings to body form velocities for each body form. Evaluation also included positioning the impactor with the various body forms inside a compact car to assess the range of adjustments and potential target surfaces. The testing demonstrated the impactor's ability to propel all three body forms in a relatively flat trajectory up to 48.3 km/hr (30 mph) without undesirable rotation. Installing the impactor inside the vehicle showed that it could accommodate the range of positions needed to meet the testing requirements of the NHTSA follow-on program, "Study of Occupant Impact with Vehicle Interior Surfaces."

• Corporate Authors:

  Southwest Research Institute

  6220 Culebra Road, P.O. Drawer 28510
  San Antonio, TX  United States  78228-0510

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Driscoll, G D
  • Anderson, O M
• Publication Date: 1983-12

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures;
• Pagination: v.p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crashworthiness; Energy absorption; Performance evaluations; Testing equipment; Vehicle tests
• Uncontrolled Terms: Interior
• Old TRIS Terms: Impactors
• Subject Areas: Highways; Vehicles and Equipment; I95: Vehicle Inspection;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00396292
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: Final Rpt., HS-806 638
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Aug 31 1985 12:00AM