A LABORATORY MECHANICAL TEST DEVICE FOR ESTIMATING THE RELATIVE ENERGY ABSORBING AND, TO SOME EXTENT, THE FORCE DISTRIBUTING CHARACTERISTICS OF VEHICLE INTERIOR LATERAL COMPONENTS IS BEING DESIGNED WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF GENERATING DATA THAT WILL PROVIDE MEANINGFUL COMPARISONS OF SUCH COMPONENTS. THE DEVICE CONSISTS OF UPPER, MIDDLE, AND LOWER SECTIONS. THE UPPER SECTION IS A ONE-PIECE, PADDED SEMI-CIRCULAR DAMPED SPRING-MASS SYSTEM. LATERAL FORCE, DISPLACEMENT AND ACCELERATION WILL BE MEASURED. THE MIDDLE SECTION CONSISTS OF A SOLIDLY SUPPORTED SEMI-CIRCULAR FOAM INSERT. INDENTATION IN THE FOAM WILL BE MEASURED. THE LOWER SECTION CONSISTS OF A WOODEN FORM AND A HINGED CONTOURED METAL BAR WITH PROVISION FOR MEASURING ACCELERATION OF THE WOODEN FORM AND FORCE BETWEEN THE WOODEN FORM AND THE METAL BAR. THESE THREE SECTIONS ARE INTENDED FOR MOUNTING IN A TEST FIXTURE SUCH THAT THE RELATIVE LOCATIONS OF THE UPPER, MIDDLE, AND LOWER SECTIONS WILL APPROXIMATE THE RELATIVE LOCATIONS OF THE CHEST, ABDOMEN, AND HIP OF A 50 PERCENTILE MALE DUMMY. THE DEVICE IS BEING DESIGNED TO BE USED WITH ONLY SLIGHT MODIFICATIONS ON EITHER A PENDULUM, A LINEAR PROPULSION DEVICE, OR THE HYGE SLED WITH A BODY BUCK OR COMPONENT, PROVIDING A LABORATORY SIMULATION OF A 90 DEGREE SIDE IMPACT TEST. THE TEST DEVICE, IF SUCCESSFULLY DEVELOPED, MAY PERMIT COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENTS OF VEHICLE COMPONENTS EARLY IN THE DESIGN PROCESS.(A) FOR THE COVERING ABSTRACT OF THE CONFERENCE SEE IRRD 802816.
Abstract