STRATEGIES FOR ENABLING CURTAIN TECHNOLOGY TO MEET FUTURE REQUIREMENTS

摘要

Threats of serious injury to both belted and unbelted occupants at the side windows in vehicle crashes represent the greatest injury risk of any location in the vehicle. Side-impact and rollover crashes uniquely expose occupants to particularly hazardous injury risks when compared to all other crash scenarios. Although current requirements for primary side-impact protection are well regulated, significant numbers of fatalities and injuries as a result of occupant ejection represent a likely candidate for future regulation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) hopes to significantly reduce the potential for partial and complete ejection fatalities and injuries. A guided impact device that propels an attached headform into a window countermeasure is an approach considered as a probable US compliance test methodology. The capability of a window airbag to limit the headform displacement traveled relative to a vehicle's exterior window plane is assumed to represent reduced risk of occupant ejection. However, it is not known what ejection risk is represented for a given headform excursion.