PHYSICAL FACTORS INVOLVED IN HEAD-ON COLLISIONS OF AUTOMOBILES
IN ONE COLLISION BETWEEN CARS WEIGHING 3,800 AND 4,100 LB., SPEEDS PRIOR TO IMPACT WERE 37 AND 23 MPH. RESPECTIVELY. DURATION OF IMPACT WAS APPROXIMATELY 0.12 SEC., AND RESPECTIVE AVERAGE DECELERATION RATES FOR THE MAIN (UNDAMAGED) PORTIONS OF THE CAR STRUCTURES WERE 421 AND 392 FT. PER SEC. PER SEC. (13.1 AND 12.2 G) RESPECTIVELY. THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF MUTUAL FRONT-END CRUSHING WAS 5.2 FT., OR 2.6 FT. PER CAR. IN THE OTHER COLLISION, CAR WEIGHTS WERE 3,700 AND 3,350 LB., INITIAL SPEEDS 34 AND 39 MPH., AND THE DECELERATION RATES 456 AND 527 FT. PER SEC. PER SEC. (14.6 AND 16.1 G) RESPECTIVELY. THE TOTAL CRUSHING WAS 6.7 FT. OR 3.35 FT. PER CAR. THE AVERAGE FORCE ACTING BETWEEN THE TWO CARS IN THE FIRST COLLISION WAS APPROXIMATELY 23 TONS, AND IN THE SECOND, 27 TONS. RATES OF KINETIC-ENERGY DISSIPATION IN THE TWO COLLISIONS WERE 1,975,000 AND 2,900,000 FT.-LB. PER SEC., OR 3,590 AND 5,270 HP., RESPECTIVELY. IN THE FIRST COLLISION, THE CALCULATED COEFFICIENT OF RESTITUTION WAS 0.102, BUT IN THE SECOND, ONLY 0.006, PRESUMABLY DUE TO A LOCKING-TOGETHER ACTION DURING STRUCTURAL DEFORMATION. /AUTHOR/
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Supplemental Notes:
- Vol 31, pp 349-356, 4 FIG, 1 TAB, 2 PHOT. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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Authors:
- Roth, H P
- Publication Date: 1952
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Thirty-First Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board, Washington, D.C., January 15-18, 1952
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Serial:
- Highway Research Board Proceedings
- Volume: 31
- Publisher: Highway Research Board
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Automobiles; Deceleration; Frontal crashes; Impacts; Kinetic energy; Physical condition
- Old TRIS Terms: Deceleration rate
- Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00221328
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Aug 1 1971 12:00AM