Development of Gravity Sled Facility for Simulated Crash Testing 990045

With a number of vehicles being developed in the country and implementation of safety standards becoming mandatory, proving of a vehicle for safety is becoming an area of high priority in India. Keeping this in view, a gravity sled facility has been established at ARAI for simulated crash testing. This paper describes the facility and its establishment as well as the development of suitable stopping devices to meet various applications.

The risk of injury to the occupants in the event of crash is severe when structural deformation/breakage occurs in the vehicle interior, seat anchorages and the restraint systems. A simulated crash test facility such as sled is used for the development of these systems and their evaluation. This is the prescribed procedure for certification. Instead of using a complete vehicle crash facility, use of a simulated crash facility becomes cost effective. The simulated crash facility described here uses the gravity principle for acceleration of sled. The practical problems faced in developing the system as well as the instrumentation and typical practical data will be presented. Methodology for the design and development of stopping devices using metallic tubes is discussed.