Citation

Malczyk A, Adomeit HD. Proc. Stapp Car Crash Conf. 1995; 39: 19-35.

Affiliation

Petri AG Engineering Center for Automobile Safety

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Society of Automotive Engineers SAE)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In the present study, comparative static tests were conducted on air bags with a driver under out-of-position conditions, and with two different air bag folding schemes, the Petri folding (PF-bag) and conventional Leporelle folding (LF-bag). Testing took place with two main configurations 'chest centered on module' and 'forehead centered on module' and with four different distances between dummy and module. The injury-relevant loads on the occupant were measured. The study demonstrates that the conventional (LF) folding even with separation of 100 mm, can readily result in achieving critical neck extension movements for the small female dummy. Even if no critical loadings in this sense are applied to the occupant, cosmetic injuries can indeed occur from bag-slap effects, in the form of reddening the skin and causing abrasions. The study suggests that the use of the PF-pattern leads to reduction in abrasion due to relative movement between air bag and skin though further research has to be pursued in this field.