CRASHING CARS BY COMPUTER

Instead of just propelling an instrumented vehicle into A 75 ton concrete block at speeds of 30 mile/h or more, crash investigators at vauxhall's safety laboratory in bedfordshire are also using a giant ram capable of imposing a 150 ton crushing force to crumple a vehicle slowly while they watch and even interrupt the process to make measurements. The crusher does not replace the live crash test, but provides safety engineers with data to feed into their computer programs which can then be used to predict how a car, van or truck will behave when it is accelerated into the concrete test block. In one particular instance, the crusher/computer study suggested that if, under impact the bonnet of one Vauxhall model were to buckle in two places instead of one, the vehicle's ability to absorb an impact would be significantly improved. Data from the crusher suggested that just four holes drilled in the bonnet reinforcing struts would ensure that bonnets would buckle in two places under impact. This, in turn, meant that the impact effects would be reduced in the main part of the body. /TRRL/

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/02624079
• Corporate Authors:

  IPC Magazine Limited

  King's Reach Tower, Stamford Street
  London SE1 9LS,   England 
• Publication Date: 1977-6-23

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: p. 717
• Serial:
  • NEW SCIENTIST
  • Volume: 74
  • Issue Number: 1057
  • Publisher: REED BUSINESS INFORMATION LTD
  • ISSN: 0262-4079

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accelerated tests; Crash injury research; Crash tests; Crashes; Crushers; Crushing; Data analysis; Digital computers; Forecasting; Information processing; Instrumented vehicles; Mathematical analysis; Research; Simulation; Vehicles
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
• ITRD Terms: 1057: Air transport network; 5176: Crushing; 8673: Digital computer; 1648: Impact test (crash); 8119: United Kingdom
• Subject Areas: Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00164376
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Report/Paper Numbers: Analytic
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 16 1978 12:00AM