DEPLOYMENT OF AIR BAGS INTO THE THORAX OF AN OUT-OF-POSITION DUMMY

The air bag has proven effective in reducing fatalities in frontal crashes with estimated decreases ranging from 11% to 30% depending on the size of the vehicle. At the same time, some air bag designs have caused fatalities when front-seat passengers have been in close proximity to the deploying air bag. The objective of this study was to develop an accurate and repeatable out-of-position test fixture to study the deployment of air bags into out-of-position occupants. Tests were performed with a fifth percentile female Hybrid III dummy and studied air bag loading on the thorax using draft ISO-2 out-of-position occupant positioning. All tests were performed in one of four nominal positions with respect to the steering wheel plane using a production depowered air bag from the current automobile fleet. Dummy positioning on the test fixture was found to be repeatable to within 0.3 cm on all axes. This variation was within the dimensional similarity of the two available fifth percentile female Hybrid III dummies. A large variation in occupant response was found with a very small change in effective distance from the sternum to the air bag module. Nearly 50% variation in peak chest center-of-gravity resultant acceleration was found when moving from the sternum pressed on the air bag module to the sternum effectively being 2 cm from the module. In addition, large variations in occupant response were found with vertical and horizontal displacements of the occupant with respect to the air bag module center. Also, a qualitative change in air bag deployment was found on changing the horizontal position by 4 cm to the left. These variations have significant implications for expected response from in-vehicle out-of-position dummy tests.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0768003431
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was presented in one of the Air Bags sessions of the 1999 SAE International Congress and Exposition and is included in the SAE Special Publication, "Air Bag Technology 1999" (SP-1411). This study was conducted under Cooperative Agreement No. DTNH22-93Y-07028 with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
• Corporate Authors:

  Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

  400 Commonwealth Drive
  Warrendale, PA  United States  15096
• Authors:
  • Bass, C R
  • Crandall, J R
  • Bolton, J R
  • Pilkey, W D
  • Khaewpong, N
  • SUN, E
• Conference:
  • 1999 SAE International Congress and Exposition
  • Location: Detroit, Michigan , United States
  • Date: 1999-3-1 to 1999-3-4
• Publication Date: 1999-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 55-69
• Serial:
  • SAE Special Publications
  • Publisher: Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air bags; Drivers; Dummies; Front seat occupants; Injuries; Laboratory tests; Occupant vehicle interface; Thorax
• Uncontrolled Terms: Out of position occupants
• Subject Areas: Highways; Passenger Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety; I95: Vehicle Inspection;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00768985
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0768003431
• Report/Paper Numbers: 1999-01-0764
• Contract Numbers: DTNH22-93Y-07028
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 28 1999 12:00AM