The objective of the program was to identify, based on frontal crash performance, potentially soft, nominal or stiff late model (1973-1975) domestic full-size and intermediate automobiles, and also to determine the most crashworthy vehicles in smaller automobile weight classes. A search and review of the literature revealed that much experimental crash data necessary to classify larger automobiles by frontal stiffness already existed for these weight classes and needed only to be assembled and analyzed. For the smaller vehicles, barrier crash tests were performed. Whereas the larger automobiles are classified by frontal structural stiffness which is inferred directly from passenger compartment deceleration in frontal impacts, the measure of the crashworthiness of the smaller vehicles is based on an occupant survival distance which is a function of the frontal impact deceleration waveform, an assumed restraint system force/deflection characteristic and the amount of occupant compartment intrusion.
Abstract