Tremendous progress concerning side impact protection has been achieved during the 1990's. At that time, pure survival of the occupants was the main goal. Today, as modern cars supply a solid basic protection, the task is widened: high priority is given to the minimization of non life-threatening injuries and potential injuries due to airbag deployment. Head Airbags do not only minimize the risk of fatal head injuries in case of pole crashes; they also contribute to more favourable passenger kinematics. Especially the momentum of the neck is reduced significantly. Volkswagen's new generation curtain airbags with optimized lateral stiffness show improved performance in case of side collisions with SUV's. In addition, all passengers, beginning from the 5th percentile woman up to the 95th percentile man, enjoy optimal protection against head impact. By employing new inflator technologies and innovative bag folding, Volkswagen side airbags fulfil all demands of the specified OOP situations, defined by the ISO Working Group. A special feature is the intrusion-detective vent of Volkswagen sidebags: in case of ignition without severe side intrusion additional vents deflate the sidebag. Beside all innovations in the field of airbag technology, the restraint systems depend on reliable, very fast acting crash sensors. Consequently, new sensor technologies and algorithms are a major item of development. Predictive crash classification, giving the restraint system enough time to be configured properly and deployed as early as possible, is one of the most prominent topics of investigation. For the covering abstract see ITRD E126782.
Samenvatting