New Barrier Test and Assessment Protocol to Control Compatibility

After a lot of researches in the field of compatibility through testing and accident analysis, the current knowledge allows us to propose a new test protocol able to control the two issues of compatibility: partner and self protection.

In other words, the procedure would be able to assess the most relevant parameters: structural interaction (geometry / stiffness) and compartment strength (stiffness). The most effective way to meet this target is to control both of them at the same time, thus avoiding many test regulations.

The new final protocol will be a mix of two very well known test configurations:

• current frontal regulation in Europe (ECE 94) to assess compartment strength and structural integrity through vehicle and dummy criteria
• Progressive Deformable Barrier test (PDB) to assess and control force distribution through barrier deformation.

The aim of this paper is to clearly describe the spirit of the regulation approach, to present the test procedure and to propose assessment rules.