Investigation of Conditions for Repeatability/Reproducibility of Vehicle Rollover Crash Tests with Devices Based on the Jordan Rollover System
Keywords: General
ACRS
Submission Date: 2016 Conference: ARSC
Abstract
Vehicle rollovers are particularly dangerous crash modes being responsible for a considerable percentage of the entire vehicle occupant fatalities. Test devices based on the functional principles of the Jordan Rollover System (JRS) may help researchers in investigating what happens to occupants during vehicle rollovers. Repeatability and reproducibility of test outcomes are both paramount requirements for any future successful rollover crash test protocol. Apart from the initial testing conditions, test outcomes may be affected by some boundary conditions as well. Thus, a standardised rollover testing protocol should impose a strict control also on those boundary conditions that could influence the test outcomes.
This research aimed at identifying whether and to what extent some initial and boundary conditions may affect the repeatability and reproducibility of the test results. Such investigation, which was carried out using computer simulations of crash tests with the UNSW JRS, indicated that two conditions which can influence the test outcomes are the roadbed-to-vehicle friction and the initial offset of the roadbed bottom skids from the ground supports.