Autoliv has developed an airbag to address this problem. Triggered by a precrash sensor (such as radar), the airbag deploys a few milliseconds before a pedestrian impact. The system has been tested in both computer simulations and in real crash tests, involving crash dummies representing an average male and a very short female. In the simulations, the Front Edge Airbag demonstrated its ability to pass the tough requirements of EuroNCAP, the European crash test organization that rates new light vehicle models. In the full-scale tests, the airbag reduced all critical injury values considerably. The largest reduction was for the abdomen of the male dummy. Here the injury risk was reduced from 99% to just 3% when using the Front Edge Airbag. The test velocity was 40 km/h (25 mph), which is the average impact speed in fatal pedestrian accidents. Based on the crash tests, it is estimated that this new airbag could save hundreds of lives every year in the United States alone. The new Bumper Airbag for SUVs also enhances pedestrian safety by deploying from beneath the bumper to protect the pedestrian's legs. In the tests, the violence to the lower legs of the pedestrian dummy was reduced by more than 50% to levels within the criteria set by the EuroNCAP rating agency in their pedestrian protection tests. The most important application of the bag will probably be in crashes when there is a mismatch in the height of the vehicles, especially when an SUV or other high-profile vehicle T-bones a passenger car. In these side impact collisions, the front of the SUV typically hits above the sill and the energy-absorbing structure of the passenger car, resulting in critical intrusions into the passenger compartment, and in some instances, even in collapses of the protection cage around the car occupants. Consequently, crash data indicates that the risk of death in such crashes is between 27 and 48 times higher in a passenger car than in another SUV. The Bumper Airbag has been evaluated in computer simulations and real crash tests. This 1.5-metre-iong, tubular airbag was mounted under the bumper of a Ford Explorer that was run head-on into the side of a typical passenger car at 48 km/h (30 mph). The bag inflation started 80 milliseconds before the impact, using a pre-crash sensor, and the bag's load carrying structure swung into position. The intrusions were significantly less at all measuring points with the Bumper Airbag. At the level of the head of an occupant, the reduction was as much as 40%. An added benefit indicated by the tests was that the time available to inflate the side airbags of the passenger car could be increased when the SUV is equipped with a bumper bag. The benefits of less intrusion using a Bumper Airbag are in the process of being evaluated using sled tests and crash test dummies. These tests indicate that the risk for rib fractures and other severe or fatal injuries (so called AIS3+ injuries) to the upper body could be reduced by nearly 40%. So far, only the benefits to the upper body have been evaluated. However, since the reduction at the head level was more significant than for other body parts, it can be assumed that the bumper bag could be even more efficient in reducing head injuries than the estimated 40% reduction in rib fractures and injuries to the lungs and the aorta recorded in the tests.
Pedestrian aware. Two new airbags that could save lives and prevent many severe injuries have been introduced by Swedish-headquartered Atoliv
Future Materials - fm ; Aug ; 11
2007
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Article (Journal)
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