Measuring Wave Fronts of Inflating Airbags

When an airbag inflates rapidly during a car accident, the driver is exposed to a large impulsive wave of sound pressure of short duration that could possibly damage human hearing. The time signals of these impulsive waves are being measured using transducers of various types and sizes in order to investigate the repeatability of the measured results both for each given transducer and between transducers. The aim is to find a suitable way for manufacturers to test airbags and to be able to make meaningful data comparisons.