Test procedures for evaluating vehicle compatibility were
investigated based on accident analysis and crash tests. This paper
summarizes the research reported by Japan to the IHRA Compatibility
Working Group.
Passenger cars account for the largest share of injuries in
head-on collisions in Japan and were identified as the first target
for tackling vehicle compatibility in Japan.
To ascertain situations in collisions between vehicles of
different sizes, we conducted crash tests between minicars and
large cars, and between small cars and large cars. The deformation
and acceleration of the minicar and small car is greater than that
of large car.
ODB, Overload and MDB tests were performed as procedures for
evaluating vehicle compatibility. In overload tests, methods to
evaluate the strength of the passenger compartment were examined,
and it is found that this test procedure is suitable for evaluating
the strength of passenger compartments. The MDB test is a procedure
taking into account the effects of vehicle mass in evaluating
vehicle compatibility. The MDB tests with three different barrier
faces indicated problems with MDB override and bottoming-out, which
have a great effect on the behavior of the test vehicles.