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A crash test is a form of destructive testing usually performed in order to ensure safe design standards in crashworthiness and crash compatibility for various modes of transportation (see automobile safety) or related systems and components.


Types

* Frontal-impact tests: which is what most people initially think of when asked about a crash test. Vehicles usually impact a solid
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...
wall at a specified speed, but these can also be vehicle impacting vehicle tests. SUVs have been singled out in these tests for a while, due to the high ride-height that they often have. * Moderate Overlap tests: in which only part of the front of the car impacts with a barrier (vehicle). These are important, as impact forces (approximately) remain the same as with a frontal impact test, but a smaller fraction of the car is required to absorb all of the force. These tests are often realized by cars turning into oncoming traffic. This type of testing is done by the U.S.A. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS),
Euro NCAP The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme (i.e. a New Car Assessment Program) based in Leuven (Belgium) formed in 1996, with the first results released in Februa ...
,
Australasian New Car Assessment Program The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) is a car safety performance assessment programme based in Australia and founded in 1993. ANCAP specialises in the crash testing of automobiles sold in Australia and the publishing of these resu ...
(ANCAP) and
ASEAN NCAP The New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asia, or known as ASEAN NCAP, is an automobile safety rating program jointly established by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) and Global New Car Assessment Program (Global NCAP ...
. * Small Overlap tests: this is where only a small portion of the car's structure strikes an object such as a pole or a tree, or if a car were to clip another car. This is the most demanding test because it loads the most force onto the structure of the car at any given speed. These are usually conducted at 15-20% of the front vehicle structure. * Side-impact tests: these forms of accidents have a very significant likelihood of fatality, as cars do not have a significant crumple zone to absorb the impact forces before an occupant is injured. *Pole-impact tests: A difficult test which places a large amount of force on a small proportion on the side of the vehicle. * Roll-over tests: which tests a car's ability (specifically the pillars holding the roof) to support itself in a dynamic impact. More recently, dynamic rollover tests have been proposed in lieu of static crush testing (video). * Roadside hardware crash tests: are used to ensure
crash barrier Traffic barriers (sometimes called Armco barriers,AK Steel (formerly Armco) genericized trademark also known in North America as guardrails or guard rails and in Britain as crash barriers) keep vehicles within their roadway and prevent them fro ...
s and crash cushions will protect vehicle occupants from roadside hazards, and also to ensure that guard rails, sign posts, light poles and similar appurtenances do not pose an undue hazard to vehicle occupants. * Old versus new: Often an old and big car against a small and new car, or two different generations of the same car model. These tests are performed to show the advancements in crash-worthiness. * Computer model: Because of the cost of full-scale crash tests, engineers often run many simulated crash tests using computer models to refine their vehicle or barrier designs before conducting live tests. * Sled testing: A cost-effective way of testing components such as airbags and seat belts is conducting sled crash testing. The two most common types of sled systems are reverse-firing sleds which are fired from a standstill, and decelerating sleds which are accelerated from a starting point and stopped in the crash area with a hydraulic ram. It can also be used to evaluate the whiplash protection of a vehicle's
seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair ...
. File:B11127P029.jpg, A reverse-firing sled with a buck representing a conventional sedan prior to a run. File:CEF1602-05.jpg, Frontal moderate overlap crash test of a 2016
Toyota Tundra The Toyota Tundra is a pickup truck manufactured in the United States by the Japanese manufacturer Toyota since May 1999. The Tundra was the second full-size pickup to be built by a Japanese manufacturer (the first was the Toyota T100), but th ...
. File:CEN1707-10.jpg, Driver-side small overlap crash test of a 2017
Toyota Tacoma The Toyota Tacoma is a pickup truck manufactured by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota since 1995. The first-generation Tacoma (model years 1995 through 2004) was classified as a compact pickup. The second generation (model years 2005 t ...
. File:CEP1713-07.jpg, Passenger-side small overlap crash test of a 2018
Kia Soul The Kia Soul is a subcompact crossover SUV manufactured and marketed worldwide by Kia, currently in its third generation. Designed at Kia's design center in California, the Soul debuted at the 2008 Paris Motor Show and is manufactured in South ...
. File:CS16006-31.jpg, Side impact crash test of a 2016
Honda Fit The Honda Fit (Japanese: ホンダ・フィット, Hepburn: ''Honda Fitto'') or Honda Jazz is a small car manufactured and marketed by Honda since 2001 and now in its fourth generation. It has a five-door hatchback body style and is considered ...
. File:V10132P008.jpg, Side impact crash test of a 2018 Honda Odyssey. File:V07443P002 (1).jpg, Rollover crash test of a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt SS. File:V05161P017.jpg, Side-impact crash test of a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 striking a 2004
Honda Accord The , also known as the in Japan and China for certain generations, is a series of cars manufactured by Honda since 1976, best known for its four-door sedan variant, which has been one of the best-selling cars in the United States since 1989. ...
mid-size sedan. File:V10044P006.jpg, Side pole impact crash test of a 2017 Lexus IS. File:NHTSA Front Crash Test-2006 Honda Ridgeline.jpg, Front full-width crash test of a 2006 Honda Ridgeline File:V10027P015.jpg, Frontal full-width crash test of a 2017
Cadillac ATS-V The Cadillac ATS (short for ''Alpha Touring Sedan'') is a compact executive 4-door sedan and 2-door coupe manufactured and marketed by Cadillac and developed at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. Cadillac assembles the ATS ...
. File:V08473P016.jpg, Side impact crash test of a 2014
Scion FR-S The Toyota 86 and the Subaru BRZ are 2+2 sports cars jointly developed by Toyota and Subaru, manufactured at Subaru's Gunma assembly plant. The 2+2 fastback coupé has a naturally-aspirated boxer engine, front-engined, rear-wheel-drive con ...
. File:V09911P014.jpg, Rear offset impact of a 2015 Ford F-150. File:V09727P441.jpg, Passenger-side oblique crash test of a 2015
Chevrolet Malibu The Chevrolet Malibu is a mid-size car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet from 1964 to 1983 and again since 1997. The Malibu began as a trim-level of the Chevrolet Chevelle, becoming its own model line in 1978. Originally a rear-wheel-dr ...
.


Major providers

* Auto Review Car Assessment Program (ARCAP) *
Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's largest motoring association. ADAC is the largest club (Verein) in Germany with around 21 million members. It would be more aptly described today as an individual mo ...
(ADAC) in Germany *
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" relat ...
(NHTSA) in the United States, specifically the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) and New Car Assessment Program (NCAP)


Data collection

Crash tests are conducted under rigorous
scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
and
safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...
standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...
. Each crash test is very expensive so the maximum amount of
data In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpret ...
must be extracted from each test. Usually, this requires the use of high-speed data-acquisition, at least one triaxial
accelerometer An accelerometer is a tool that measures proper acceleration. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change of velocity) of a body in its own instantaneous rest frame; this is different from coordinate acceleration, which is acce ...
and a crash test dummy, but often includes more. Some organizations that conduct crash tests include Calspan, an independent test laboratory in Buffalo, NY. As a result of the capabilities and expertise at Calspan, Calspan has been awarded 5 year contracts by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to execute for the NHTSA FMVSS No. 214, Side Impact Protection Compliance Testing, FMVSS No. 301 Fuel System Integrity, and FMVSS No. 305 Electric Powered Vehicles: Electrolyte Spillage and Electrical Shock Protection vehicle crash tests. Calspan also holds the NHTSA contracts for executing New Car Assessment Program crash tests. Also,
Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has ...
department of
Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...
, routinely conducts crash tests for the purposes of roadside barrier safety and design.


Consumer response

* In 1998 the Rover 100 received a one-star Adult Occupant Rating in
EuroNCAP The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme (i.e. a New Car Assessment Program) based in Leuven (Belgium) formed in 1996, with the first results released in Februa ...
crash tests; sales promptly collapsed and the 18-year-old design was quickly scrapped. * In 2005 the
Daewoo Kalos Daewoo ( ; Hangul: , Hanja: , ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "dae" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglome ...
made news in Europe and Australia by scoring only two stars in its crash test, resulting in lower sales and demonstrating the influence of vehicle crashworthiness on a model's success in the
marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...
. The result for
Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thr ...
in Australia, who retailed the Kalos under the Holden Barina name, resulted in a considerable amount of negative
publicity In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or Brand awareness, awareness for any Product (business), product, Service (economics), service, person or organization (company, Charitable organization, charity, etc.). It may also refer to the mov ...
, with the managing director of Holden forced to publicly defend the vehicle. * The second generation Isuzu Trooper (1995–1997) models were rated "Not Acceptable" by ''
Consumer Reports Consumer Reports (CR), formerly Consumers Union (CU), is an American nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to independent product testing, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy. Found ...
'' for their tendency to ''roll over'' during testing. After the report Trooper sales never recovered and two years later production ceased.


Crash testing programs

There are a number of crash test programs around the world dedicated to providing consumers with a source of comparitative information in relation to the safety performance of new and used vehicles. Examples of new car crash test programs include
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" relat ...
's NCAP, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety,
Australasian New Car Assessment Program The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) is a car safety performance assessment programme based in Australia and founded in 1993. ANCAP specialises in the crash testing of automobiles sold in Australia and the publishing of these resu ...
,
EuroNCAP The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme (i.e. a New Car Assessment Program) based in Leuven (Belgium) formed in 1996, with the first results released in Februa ...
an
JapNCAP
Programs such as th
Used Car Safety Ratings
provide consumers information on the safety performance of vehicles based on real world crash data. In 2020, EuroNCAP introduces a ''mobile progressive deformable barrier (MPDB) test'' first experimented on the Toyota Yaris.


See also

* Air safety * Automobile safety * Automobile safety rating * Car accident * Crash test dummy * Crashworthiness * European New Car Assessment Programme (
Euro NCAP The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme (i.e. a New Car Assessment Program) based in Leuven (Belgium) formed in 1996, with the first results released in Februa ...
) * Head injury criterion * Insurance Institute for Highway Safety * Moose test *
Out of position (crash testing) Out of position (OOP), in crash testing and car accident medical literature, indicates a passenger position which is not the normal upright and forward-facing position. For example, a common case observed in crashes is the position of an occupant wh ...
*
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...
Impact Dynamics Research Facility


References


External links


Automotive Safety and Bharat NCAP


at
HowStuffWorks HowStuffWorks is an American commercial infotainment website founded by professor and author Marshall Brain, to provide its target audience an insight into the way many things work. The site uses various media to explain complex concepts, termin ...

Insurance Institute of Highway Safety

EuroNCAP

Motorward: All you need to know about crash tests
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crash Test Mechanical tests Transport safety Product testing