THIS PAPER COVERS THE CURRENT STATUS OF TEST HARDWARE DEVELOPMENT AND DISCUSSES SOME TEST WORK THAT IS PROVIDING INSIGHT INTO THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF EXTERIOR STRUCTURE AND INTERIOR ENERGY ABSORPTION. THE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS RELATIONSHIP IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THE CHOICE AND DESIGN OF EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR TESTS. ACCIDENT ANALYSIS WAS CARRIED OUT WITH CAR-TO-CAR ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION. USING THE RESULTS, A DOOR LOWER INTERIOR IMPACT TEST WAS DEVELOPED FOR DETERMINING THE "MOST EFFECTIVE" CHARACTERISTICS OF BODY SIDE STRUCTURE, INTERIOR ENERGY ABSORPTION. DETAILS ARE GIVEN OF THE LOWER INTERIOR IMPACTOR MECHANISM, EVALUATION ON TEST PLAN, PRE-CRUSH DEVELOPMENT, HEAD AREA IMPACTOR, "MOST EFFECTIVE" SIDE IMPACT TESTS, RELATED SIDE IMPACT COMPONENT TESTS, AND CURRENT FMVSS, 214 DOOR BEAM TEST. SEVERAL METHODS ARE PROPOSED FOR EVALUATING THE ACTUAL FIELD BENEFIT THAT WILL ACCRUE FROM THE APPLICATION OF THESE TEST PROCEDURES. FOR THE COVERING ABSTRACT OF THE CONFERENCE SEE IRRD 802816.
Abstract