Technical Paper
Rollover Protection Structure - Gouge and Scratch Analysis in Rollover Crashes
2024-04-09
2024-01-2466
Gouges and scratches to steel rollover protection structures are informative to the reconstruction and analysis of real-world vehicle rollover crashes. Variations in ground surface composition can be correlated with accompanying witness marks on the vehicle. This paper presents the results of nine full scale rollover protection structure tests using a variety of test speeds and surface compositions. The test results and graphical analyses that follow are displayed for use in comparison to similar subject crashes. In addition, impact of steel rollover protection structures with various opposing ground surface materials can produce visible sparks in low light conditions. Tests are presented to show the ability of these structures to produce sparks in a variety of surface impacts.