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The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) include a number of different regulations that are applicable to child occupants. Some of the FMVSS, such as those covering child restraint systems (FMVSS 213) and occupant protection (FMVSS 208), have provisions specifically targeted to children and have been analyzed in the literature. Other FMVSS may not mention children but address aspects of vehicle safety that are relevant to child occupants. This paper examines the full range of occupant-related regulations in the context of how each one affects children. Topics include the use of anthropometric data to analyze restraint regulations (FMVSS 213), a comparison of general seating strength (FMVSS 207) against school bus seating strength (FMVSS 222), and interior trunk releases (FMVSS 401). This paper highlights a number of child occupant safety issues that have been addressed by the FMVSS, as well as others that either already are or will likely be the focus of future rules.

As part of ongoing research on hydrogen-enhanced lean burn SI engines, this paper details an experimental combustion system optimization program. Experiments focused on three key areas: the ignition system, in-cylinder charge motion produced by changes in the inlet ports, and uniformity of fuel-air mixture preparation. Hydrogen enhancement is obtained with a H2, CO, N2 mixture produced by a fuel reformer such as the plasmatron. The ignition system tests compared a standard inductive coil scheme against high-energy discharge systems. Charge motion experiments focused on the impact of different flow and turbulence patterns generated within the cylinder by restrictor plates at the intake port entrance, as well as novel inlet flow modification cones. The in-cylinder fluid motion generated by each configuration was characterized using swirl and tumble flow benches. Mixture preparation tests compared a standard single-hole pintle port fuel injector against a fine atomizing 12-hole injector.