SAFETYNEWS 16/07/2024
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Take a look at the latest SAFETYNEWS updates! Here are two important updates to get you on your way:
NEW SIDE AIRBAG FROM ZF LIFETEC CAN INCREASE THE CRUMPLE ZONE IN THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT
A two-stage side airbag from ZF LIFETEC uses the milliseconds before an unavoidable crash to build up valuable distance and better protect the occupants. The Pre-Crash Dual Stage Side Airbag (Dual Stage SAB) triggers its first stage around 200 milliseconds before the collision and pushes the occupants a few centimeters into the vehicle interior, away from the expected impact point. Thanks to this gain in space, the actual side airbag with the second stage can develop its full protective effect during the collision.
A two-stage side airbag from ZF LIFETEC uses the milliseconds before an unavoidable crash to build up valuable distance and better protect the occupants. The Pre-Crash Dual Stage Side Airbag (Dual Stage SAB) triggers its first stage around 200 milliseconds before the collision and pushes the occupants a few centimeters into the vehicle interior, away from the expected impact point. Thanks to this gain in space, the actual side airbag with the second stage can develop its full protective effect during the collision.
60 millimeters can save lives
"We are developing the Pre-Crash Dual Stage Side Airbag because we are convinced that in the event of a side impact, the milliseconds before an unavoidable crash are a major safety advantage," explains Harald Lutz, Senior Vice President Global Engineering at ZF LIFETEC. "Our pre-crash function offers the opportunity to create valuable space that the subsequent side airbag can use for optimum protection."
For the pre-crash function, ZF LIFETEC uses the vehicle's existing signal acquisition system. This gives vehicle manufacturers the option of integrating the system into their sensor infrastructure. After a corresponding signal detects an unavoidable collision, the first stage of the Dual Stage SAB is triggered 200 milliseconds before the calculated crash scenario. As an additional function of the side airbag, this air cushion pushes the occupants around 60 millimeters towards the inside of the vehicle - i.e., away from the doors - before the second stage of the side airbag and other restraint systems such as airbags and belt tensioners are triggered by the actual impact. The space created by the first stage of the Dual Stage SAB is used by the second stage with the classic side airbag, which has already positioned itself correctly and now inflates between the occupants and the intruding door.
Two inflators, one cushion
To ensure controlled management of the individual stages, ZF LIFETEC uses two inflators to fill the two-part cushion. A hybrid inflator brings the airbag into position and fills the pre-crash chamber of around 20 liters before the actual impact. The chamber is filled slowly in 30 milliseconds, as it moves people away from the accident as continuously as possible. Another, exclusively pyrotechnic inflator fills the 18-liter second chamber of the airbag within 10 milliseconds shortly after the impact. To avoid a pressure conflict between the two chambers, the pre-crash chamber, which is filled first, is vented again via a trigger flap. The second chamber, which represents the classic side airbag, then has a significantly larger space available and can offer improved protection in the direction of the penetrating vehicle side parts.
The pre-crash chamber is therefore an add-on function that helps to optimize the effect of the side airbag. The system is designed to function like a conventional side airbag in the event of an accident if the car's electronics do not detect a pre-crash signal.
ZF LIFETEC plans to develop the Pre-Crash Dual Stage Side Airbag to application maturity within the next few years. The system has already proven its functionality in several tests, including sled tests, which took a closer look at the complex pole impact scenario. In further development steps, ZF LIFETEC will continue to refine the interaction between the pre-crash and side airbags. The design for different occupant sizes also plays a role here, as does the effect in different seating positions - such as the comfort position during highly automated driving.
The pre-crash dual stage side airbag is integrated into the seat and can be implemented in all vehicle classes, provided the sensor technology required for the pre-crash function is available. "The Euro NCAP Roadmap 2030 already lists pre-crash functionalities. It is foreseeable that cars equipped with our technology will receive a corresponding plus in the rating," said Lutz.
More Information: press.zf.com
Author/Source: ZF LIFETEC
The text, images, graphics, sound files, animation files, video files and their arrangement on the news sites are all subject to Copyright and other intellectual property protection. The author resp. the authors can be find on the more information link.
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NHTSA TAKES IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD IMPROVING OCCUPANT PROTECTION, SEEKS COMMENT ON UPDATING SEATBACK SAFETY STANDARDS
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration took an important step toward identifying opportunities to improve the safety of people inside vehicles by issuing an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to update seatback safety standards. The ANPRM fulfills a requirement in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and supports the Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy.
The notice continues to lay the groundwork for advancing vehicle safety and reducing occupant injuries - especially in rear-end crashes, as controlled interaction of the occupant with the seatback is the primary countermeasure to injury in those incidents.
With this ANPRM, NHTSA is seeking public comment on a variety of topics to determine what upgrades, if any, are needed to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 207, “Seating systems,” and potentially FMVSS No. 202a, “Head restraints,” with an emphasis on occupant protection in rear impacts.
“This action today is a significant step toward improving and better understanding occupant safety, especially in rear-end vehicle crashes,” Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman said. “NHTSA welcomes and encourages all public comments, which will help inform a potential rulemaking to update seatback safety standards.”
FMVSS No. 207 establishes requirements for seats, seat attachment assemblies and their installation in passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks designed to carry at least one person, and buses. The standard sets minimum requirements for seatback strength and associated restraining devices and adjusters and outlines a test procedure. FMVSS No. 202a specifies requirements for head restraints to reduce the frequency and severity of neck injuries in rear-end and other crashes.
Among its considerations in the ANPRM, the agency seeks comment on seatback strength requirements, performance test parameters and various seat characteristics that are considered for regulation to improve rear impact protection, as well as relevant incident data.
More Information: nhtsa.gov/press
Author/Source: NHTSA
The text, images, graphics, sound files, animation files, video files and their arrangement on the news sites are all subject to Copyright and other intellectual property protection. The author resp. the authors can be find on the more information link.
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