Comparisons of Devices for Measuring Acceleration vs. Time in Braking Tests

The coefficient of friction between a vehicle's tires and the roadway is a key parameter in any accident reconstruction. With the proliferation of vehicle dynamics software, it is often important to have more details regarding the tires interaction with the road than simply the average deceleration rate. Devices which can provide the peak friction as the braking develops, along with the average deceleration during the fully developed sliding phase, are necessary. There are now products widely available to the accident reconstruction market which provides these parameters as well as detailed acceleration vs. time curves. The following products capable of providing these results were tested: Accelerex, Vericom VC3000, and two general purpose accelerometers made by Silicon Designs and Dimension Engineering.

Tests were conducted on wet and dry asphalt surfaces using a variety of passenger vehicles and transit buses which confirmed the agreement between these devices. Braking build-up time data is also presented.