Abstract
The National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Simula Automotive Safety Devices (ASD-Simula) are conducting a joint research program to evaluate the effectiveness of the Inflatable Tubular Structure (ITS) in mitigating ejection during rollover crashes. This research program involves full scale dynamic testing, component testing, simulation and crash case reviews. All aspects of the program will be analyzed to evaluate the safety potential for ejection mitigation. The preliminary tests show that the ITS can be highly effective in mitigating complete occupant ejection, but cannot prevent arm ejections in rollover crashes. (A)