Collision Performance of Automotive Door Systems 940562
Historically, most safety related improvements to door systems have involved retention of occupants within the vehicle. However, such improvements have not been without some safety trade-offs. The recent update to FMVSS 214 (Side Impact Protection) has focused attention on increased occupant protection in side impacts. The standard essentially increases vehicle side strength requirements in order to reduce intrusion into the occupant space. The safety consequences associated with strengthening vehicle side structure will be evaluated with respect to various impact configurations. Energy management considerations of current as well as conceptual door systems during a collision will also be discussed. Individual latch and hinge component testing as currently required by FMVSS 206 does not completely evaluate the collision performance of the door as a system. From field collision evaluation, it has been seen that doors and surrounding side structure must act as a system to efficiently manage collision forces and distribute occupant loads. Procedures for evaluating current and future door systems by means of revised laboratory testing procedures will be evaluated.
Citation: Blaisdell, D., Stephens, G., and Meissner, U., "Collision Performance of Automotive Door Systems," SAE Technical Paper 940562, 1994, https://doi.org/10.4271/940562. Download Citation
Author(s):
David Blaisdell, Gregory Stephens, Uwe Meissner
Affiliated:
Collision Research & Analysis, Inc.
Pages: 14
Event:
International Congress & Exposition
ISSN:
0148-7191
e-ISSN:
2688-3627
Also in:
Occupant Containment and Methods of Assessing Occupant Protection in the Crash Environment-SP-1045, 100 Years of Vehicle Safety Development-PT-116
Related Topics:
Vehicle side structures
Side impact crashes
Occupant protection
Doors
Test procedures
SAE MOBILUS
Subscribers can view annotate, and download all of SAE's content.
Learn More »