MS

thesisThe National Highway and Traffic Safety administration (NHTSA) regularly connducts crash tests as part of their research and regulatory duties. The data from these crash tests are available to the public and can be downloaded over the internet. These data include information recorded during the crash test from accelerometers and load cells on the vehicle and in crash test dummies inside the vehicle. Often, when conducting a frontal impact test, an instrumented load cell barrier is used. This is a rigid, flat barrier instrumented with an array of load cells that the vehicle impacts during the test. The load cells measure the force exerted by the vehicle on the barrier over time and provide information about the force-deflection characteristics of the vehicle. The force-deflection characteristics of a vehicle can be very helpful to researchers and investigators involved in automobile accident reconstruction. While there are many methods that accident reconstructionists have used to derive, model and estimate the force-deflection properties of vehicles, load cell barrier data have been mostly ignored for use in accident reconstruction analyses. This research presents an analysis of the reliability of load cell barrier data and investigates their applicability to automobile accident The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regularly conducts crash tests as part of their research and regulatory duties. The data from these crash tests are available to the public and can be downloaded over the internet. These data include information recorded during the crash test from accelerometers and load cells on the vehicle and in crash test dummies inside the vehicle. Often, when conducting a frontal impact test, an instrumented load cell barrier is used. This is a rigid, flat barrier instrumented with an array of load cells that the vehicle impacts during the test. The load cells measure the force exerted by the vehicle on the barrier over time and provide information about the force-deflection characteristics of the vehicle. The force-deflection characteristics of a vehicle can be very helpful to researchers and investigators involved in automobile accident reconstruction. While there are many methods that accident reconstructionists have used to derive, model and estimate the force-deflection properties of vehicles, load cell barrier data have been mostly ignored for use in accident reconstruction analyses. This research presents an analysis of the reliability of load cell barrier data and investigates their applicability to automobile accident The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regularly conducts crash tests as part of their research and regulatory duties. The data from these crash tests are available to the public and can be downloaded over the internet. These data include information recorded during the crash test from accelerometers and load cells on the vehicle and in crash test dummies inside the vehicle. Often, when conducting a frontal impact test, an instrumented load cell barrier is used. This is a rigid, flat barrier instrumented with an array of load cells that the vehicle impacts during the test. The load cells measure the force exerted by the vehicle on the barrier over time and provide information about the force-deflection characteristics of the vehicle. The force-deflection characteristics of a vehicle can be very helpful to researchers and investigators involved in automobile accident reconstruction. While there are many methods that accident reconstructionists have used to derive, model and estimate the force-deflection properties of vehicles, load cell barrier data have been mostly ignored for use in accident reconstruction analyses. This research presents an analysis of the reliability of load cell barrier data and investigates their applicability to automobile accident reconstruction