Abstract
This paper presents a study of real time side impact loading on an SUV type vehicle by three common barriers used in the US and Europe. The presented results are extremely difficult to obtain in a crash test due to difficulties in instrumentation and changes in instrument orientation during the body structure deformation. The interaction between each barrier and the subject vehicle provides insight to the local impact loading on an SUV and help understand structural resistance to the impact. The procedure can be extended to obtain real time load histories in other crash modes including vehicle-to-vehicle crashes. (Author/publisher)