Contact UsDescription:
Join us on this last part of the 5-week product development webinar series to learn about how to lower your product development costs. Learn how you can take advantage of this impact/crash testing analyses to improve product safety and to improve product safety and comply with industry regulations.
Example: How do Midsized Sedans Perform in Impact Crash Tests
Only 3 out of 7 midsized cars received a Good or Acceptable rating in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) most recent round of testing, which are becoming increasingly difficult to pass.
In the initial side impact test, each of the seven received a Good rating. However, the IIHS is always improving its test methodology and pushing the auto industry to make further advancements. The updated findings demonstrate the implications of a new side impact technique that was created to mimic actual collisions involving SUVs. This is why dynamics modeling for engineers is so crucial.
This methodology, which by using a heavier sled moving at a higher speed, was previously used by the IIHS on small and midsized SUVs.
Among 20 small SUVs, only two received the lowest rating of Poor. A brand-new model has already been introduced to replace one, the Honda HR-V. None of the 18 tested midsized SUVs received a Poor rating.
The safety organization’s standard side impact test was scheduled to change, and automakers were aware of this change well before 2018. But given that many of the models tested thus far were created too recently to be designed to fulfill these standards, this is still somewhat ‘up for grabs’.
This emphasizes one important advantage of the IIHS’s increasingly demanding tests: they push the sector to improve. These vehicles weren’t as effective as the SUV groups before them. Their reduced ride height, according to the IIHS, might be a significant influence.
Research that revealed that over a quarter of occupant fatalities occurred in incidents that were more severe than the conventional test inspired the IIHS to revise this test.
A 3,300-pound sled moving at 31 miles per hour was employed in the prior round of the side impact test. The impact forces are substantially greater in this new approach because it employs a 4,200-pound sled traveling at 37 mph, which is more comparable to modern midsized SUVs.
The basic Top Safety Pick designation will require a Good or Acceptable rating in this test, in addition to Good ratings in the frontal, roof crush, and head restraint tests, and the coveted Top Safety Pick+ award will require a Good rating.
Customers can utilize this additional information to guide their purchase decisions while vehicles that fared well in previous side impact crash testing may still be given the IIHS Top Safety Pick label.
In our most recent webinar series, engineers can learn more about the best practices for automobile design, paying particular attention to compliance certifications.
