The Proving Ground Section of General Motors Corp. has installed, and is using, a new full-scale impact machine for simulating vehicle crash conditions. The device is unique in the automotive in the automotive industry having been provided with the capacity for the indoor testing of complete vehicle structures to an acceleration of 40g. Vehicle components can be subjected to even higher accelerations. The machine is also unique in that the test vehicle or component is subjected to an acceleration pulse rather than the equivalent deceleration shock. The installation has been quipped with modern instrumentation for precise recording of test conditions. This includes high level illumination for the high speed photographic coverage.
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