Development of a frontal small overlap crashworthiness evaluation test.

Area of Science:

• Road safety engineering
• Vehicle dynamics and crashworthiness

Background:

• Small overlap frontal crashes, where forces impact outside vehicle frame rails, contribute significantly to serious occupant injuries.
• Existing crash tests may not adequately represent the complexities of these specific crash types.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate potential barrier crash tests for assessing vehicle crashworthiness in various small overlap frontal crash scenarios.
• To identify effective countermeasures for improving occupant protection in small overlap impacts.

Main Methods:

• Conducted sixteen full-scale vehicle tests using three midsize passenger vehicles.
• Utilized six different test configurations, including vehicle-to-vehicle and barrier tests, at 64 km/h.
• Employed an instrumented Hybrid III midsize male driver dummy for all tests.

Main Results:

• All tested configurations showed primary loading on the wheel, suspension, and hinge pillar.
• Significant occupant compartment intrusion occurred, especially in outboard structures.
• Limited frontal airbag interaction was observed due to combined steering wheel and dummy lateral motion.

Conclusions:

• One vehicle demonstrated superior crashworthiness across all tested configurations.
• Countermeasures effective in one small overlap test configuration benefit performance in others.
• The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety developed a new small overlap crashworthiness evaluation protocol.