CHANGE OF VELOCITY AND PULSE CHARACTERISTICS IN REAR IMPACTS: REAL WORLD AND VEHICLES TESTS DATA

Impact severity in collisions that can cause soft tissue neck injuries are most commonly specified in terms of change of velocity. However, it has been shown from real-world collisions that mean acceleration influences the risk of these injuries. For a given change of velocity this means an increased risk for shorter duration of the crash pulse. Furthermore, dummy response in crash tests has shown to vary depending on the duration of the crash pulse for a given change of velocity. The range of duration for change of velocities suggested for sled tests that evaluate the protection of the seat from soft tissue neck injuries are still to be established. The aim of this study was to quantify the variation of duration of the crash pulse for vehicles impacted from the rear at change of velocities suggested in test methods that evaluate the protection from soft tissue neck injuries. Crash pulses from the same vehicle models from different generations in real-world collisions producing a similar change of velocity were also analysed. The results from the crash tests show that similar changes of velocity can be generated with various durations of crash pulses for a given change of velocity in rear impacts. The results from real-world collisions showed that a similar change of velocity was generated with various durations and shapes of crash pulses for the same vehicle model. For the covering abstract see ITRD E825082.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  MINISTRY OF ECONOMY, TRADE AND INDUSTRY OF JAPAN

  1-3-1, KASUMIGASEKI, CHIYODA-KU
  TOKYO,   Japan  100-8901
• Authors:
  • LINDER, A
  • AVERY, M
  • KRAFFT, M
  • Kullgren, A
• Publication Date: 2003-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 9 p.
• Serial:
  • PROCEEDINGS OF 18TH INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL CONFERENCE ON THE ENHANCED SAFETY OF VEHICLES, HELD NAGOYA, JAPAN, 19-22 MAY 2003
  • Publisher: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Acceleration (Mechanics); Conferences; Crash tests; Crashes; Injuries; Rear end crashes; Speed; Test procedures; Vertebrae
• ITRD Terms: 5405: Acceleration; 2040: Cervical vertebrae; 1631: Collision; 8525: Conference; 1648: Impact test (crash); 2163: Injury; 1620: Rear end collision; 5408: Speed; 6288: Test method
• Subject Areas: Research; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00987281
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD, USDOT
• Created Date: Mar 3 2005 12:00AM