Japanese research activity on future side impact test procedures 2001-06-0155

This paper summarizes a future side impact test procedure based on the Japanese presentation at the recent IHRA Side Impact WG meeting. Under current Japanese regulations, the MDB specifications and test procedures were determined based on a market study more than ten years ago. Thus, they may not reflect current automobile characteristics, the actual accident situation, and crash test results. In this study (1) the vehicle types, velocity of striking and struck vehicles, body injury regions, causes of injuries, etc., are reviewed with reference to the latest Japanese side impact accident data. The occupant percentages for the non-struck-side, rear seat and for female occupants as well as the injury levels were analyzed. (2) To determine the MDB specifications, based on data from passenger car models registered in 1998, the curb mass, geometry and stiffness were examined. (3) For factorial analysis, side impact tests were performed as for real accidents. Issues for future side impact test procedures include protection of the non-struck-side and rear seat occupants, the female occupants and the comparison of the dummy injury severity with or without crabbed angle, along with comparison between EuroSID-1 responses and ES-2 prototype responses. We have conducted full-scale tests in these areas. Based on these results, we present the Japanese view regarding future side impact test procedures.