Measuring Steering Column Motion in Frontal Rigid-Barrier Test

NHTSA-Vehicle Safety Research2021PDFTech ReportReichert, RudolfKan, Cing-DaoPark, Chung-KyuGeorge Mason University, Center for Collision Safety and AnalysisUnited States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Office of Vehicle Safety ResearchWinkler, MatthiasGoupil, GeraldUnited States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationUnited StatesSteering columnsSteering wheelsVehiclesAutomobilesFrontal crashesInjuriesInjury severityFinite element methodMeasurementFMVSS No. 204steering control rearward displacementfull-scale testingmeasuring techniquesDOT HS 813 094DTNH2215D00005, 693JJ919R000101Saunders, James;Jeffries, RossFinal \u2013 Technical Report, Sept. 2019 \u2013 Dec. 2020Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 204, Steering control rearward displacement,\u201d specifies a limit on rearward steering column motion in an unoccupied, 30-mph, full-frontal, rigid-barrier crash test. Modern vehicles demonstrate improved energy absorption and steering column designs compared to vehicles prior to the time when FMVSS No. 204 was first introduced. NHTSA has defined this research task to (1) develop and validate a test procedure to measure dynamic steering column motion during an occupied, 35-mph FMVSS No. 208 frontal rigid-barrier test; and (2) determine if the performance of the steering column motion in a FMVSS No. 208 type test serve as an indication for steering column motion in a FMVSS No. 204 type test. The George Mason University team has worked with Messring to develop and evaluate different techniques to measure steering column motion in a FMVSS No. 208 type test. The test procedures were demonstrated against two physical frontal rigid-barrier tests which were conducted in cooperation with Calspan. A method to estimate FMVSS No. 204 steering column motion based on FMVSS No. 208 test results was developed. Simulation studies were conducted to determine how steering column motion and occupant injury metrics correlate. The effect of \u201cGood,\u201d \u201cBorderline,\u201d and \u201cFailing\u201d steering column motion relative to FMVSS No. 204 on occupant metrics was determined. The simulation studies showed that \u201cFailing\u201d and \u201cBorderline\u201d steering column motion correlated with failing FMVSS No. 208 due to ATD chest deflections of the 5th percentile female and 50th percentile male dummies that were higher than the specified limits for both ATDs.119