Citation

Severy DM, Mathewson JH. Highw. Res. Board bull. 1954; 91: 39-54.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1954, National Research Council (U.S.A.), Highway Research Board)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The first of a series of proposed tests are described through which (1) the protective or restraining features of an automobile chest-type, lap type and shoulder type safety belt will be evaluated and (2) an engineering analysis of the collapse characteristics of an automobile structure on impact will be made. The study of the collision properties of the car should lead to a better understanding of the nature of deceleration by collision and the causes of departure of collision-deceleration patterns from the theoretically ideal pattern of uniform deceleration. There should follow the determination of those structural modifications which, in the case of head-on type collision, will provide automobiles with improved progressive collapse characteristics. The automobile used in this test was a 1937 plymouth which has been instrumented with mechanical and electrical accelerometers and electrical strain gages. An instrumented antropometric dummy was secured by a chest-type safety belt to an instrumented seat. The instrumented car was accelerated by pushing, guided by remote control, and allowed to coast into a fixed barrier. The barrier was constructed of large diameter utility poles backed up by dirt so as to provide an essentially nonyielding wall. A high-speed motion-picture camera and several accessory movie cameras were directed at the point of impact. The instrumented or crash car was suitably calibrated with visual markers to facilitate accurate evaluation of the deceleration pattern of the car during impact through subsequent film analysis.